Public Library of Science, PLoS ONE, 8(8), p. e71683, 2013
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071683
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While testing regenerative medicine strategies, the use of animal models that match the research questions and that are related to clinical translation is crucial. During the initial stage of evaluating new strategies for bone repair, the main goal is to state whether the strategies efficiently induce the formation of new bone tissue at an orthotopic site. Here, we present a subperiosteal model in rat calavria that allow the evaluation of a broad range of approaches including bone augmentation, replacement and regeneration. Easy and fast to perform, the model is minimally invasive and no defect are created. The procedure enables to evaluate the outcomes quantitatively using micro-computed tomography and qualitatively by histology and immunohistochemistry. For establishing the model, we used bone morphogenetic protein-2 as an osteoinductive factor and hyaluronic acid hydrogel as injectable biomaterial. We showed that this subperiosteal cranial model offers a minimally invasive and promising solution for a rapid evaluation of bone tissue engineering strategies, even for investigator with limited experience in orthopedic surgery. We believe that this approach could be a powerful platform for orthopedic research and regenerative medicine.