Cell-to-cell communication between osteogenic and endothelial lineages: implications for tissue engineering

There have been extensive research efforts to develop new strategies for bone tissue engineering. These have mainly focused on vascularization during the development and repair of bone. It has been hypothesized that pre-seeding a scaffold with endothelial cells could improve angiogenesis and bone regeneration through a complex dialogue between endothelial cells and bone-forming cells. Here, we focus on the paracrine signals secreted by both cell types and the effects they elicit. We discuss the other modes of cell-to-cell communication that could explain their cell coupling and reciprocal interactions. Endothelial cell-derived tube formation in a scaffold and the dialogue between endothelial cells and mesenchymal stem cells provide promising means of generating vascular bone tissue-engineered constructs.