40745 2017 eng 44 58 1 12 article Wiley Online Library John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. 1 -- -- -- Over the last decade there have been increasing efforts to develop three-dimensional (3D) scaffolds for bone tissue Engineering from bioactive ceramics with 3D printing emerging as a promising technology. The overall objective of the present study was to generate a tissue engineered synthetic bone graft with homogenously distributed osteoblasts and mineralizing bone Matrix in vitro, thereby mimicking the advantageous properties of autogenous bone grafts and facilitating usage for reconstructing segmental discontinuity defects in vivo . To this end, 3D scaffolds were developed from a silica-containing calcium alkali orthophosphate, using, fi rst, a replica technique – the Schwartzwalder – Somers method – and, second, 3D printing, (i.e. rapid prototyping). The mechanical and physical scaffold properties and their potential to facilitate homogenous colonization by osteogenic cells and extracellular bone matrix formation throughout the porous scaffold architecture were examined. Osteoblastic cells were dynamically cultured for 7 days on both scaffold types with two different concentrations of 1.5 and 3 × 10⁹ cells/l. The amount of cells and bone matrix formed and osteogenic marker expression were evaluated using hard tissue histology, immunohistochemical and histomorphometric analysis. 3D-printed scaffolds (RPS) exhibited more micropores, greater compressive strength and silica release. RPS seeded with 3 × 10⁹ cells/l displayed greatest cell and extracellular Matrix formation, mineralization and osteocalcin expression. In conclusion, RPS displayed superior mechanical and biological properties and facilitated generating a tissue engineered synthetic bone graft in vitro, which mimics the advantageous properties of autogenous bone grafts, by containing homogenously distributed terminally differentiated osteoblasts and mineralizing bone matrix and therefore is suitable for subsequent in vivo implantation for regenerating segmental discontinuity bone defects. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine 10.1002/term.2362 1932-6254 1932-7005 22.02.2018 D. Adel-Khattab F. Giacomini R. Gildenhaar G. Berger Cynthia Gomes Ulf Linow M. Hardt B. Peleska Jens Günster M. Stiller A. Houshmand K. Ghaffar A. Gamal M. El-Mofty C. Knabe eng uncontrolled Bone tissue engineering eng uncontrolled Calcium alkali orthophosphate eng uncontrolled Rapid prototyping eng uncontrolled Scaffold eng uncontrolled Mandible Ingenieurwissenschaften und zugeordnete Tätigkeiten Verlagsliteratur Datei im Netzwerk der BAM verfügbar ("Closed Access")