Complementary modulation of BMP signaling improves bone healing efficiency

The bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signaling pathway plays a crucial role in bone development and regeneration. While BMP-2 is widely used as an alternative to autograft, its clinical application has raised concerns about adverse side effects and deteriorated bone quality. Therefore, there is a need to develop more sophisticated approaches to regulate BMP signaling and promote bone regeneration. Here, we present a novel complementary strategy that targets both BMP antagonist noggin and agonist Trb3 to enhance bone defect repair without the application of exogenous BMP-2. In vitro studies showed that overexpression of Trb3 with simultaneous noggin suppression significantly promotes osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. This was accompanied by increased BMP/Smad signaling. We also developed sterosome nanocarriers, a nonphospholipid liposomal system, to achieve non-viral mediated noggin suppression and Trb3 overexpression. The gene-loaded sterosomes were integrated onto an apatite-coated polymer scaffold for in vivo calvarial defect implantation, resulting in robust bone healing compared to BMP-2 treatments. Our work provides a promising alternative for high-quality bone formation by regulating expression of BMP agonists and antagonists.