Osteogenic stem cells and orthopedic engineering: summary and update.

The use of osteogenic stem cells or osteoprogenitors to reconstruct skeletal tissues is a popular area of research investigation with high potential for successful use of tissue-engineering principles in orthopedics. Recent studies demonstrate the migration of marrow-derived stem cells to skeletal sites and the proliferation and differentiation at local tissue sites and support possibilities for assessing the successful uses of human osteoprogenitors in the treatment of bone deficiency diseases. In addition, the development of gene therapy procedures in these and other conditions is now considered an achievable goal with the use of these primitive marrow cells. Copyright 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res (Appl Biomater) 63: 384-389, 2002