Fig. 5: DAPT-modified induced membrane promotes bone formation in the femoral defect site but induced graft resorption in subcutaneous site.

a Representative image of H&E staining and Masson’s staining in the subcutaneous site and femoral defect site after 12 weeks of autogenous bone grafting (scale bar: 50 μm/200 μm, black arrows indicate microvessels, IM represents induced membrane, BT represents bone tissue, MB represents mature bone, IM represents immature bone). b Quantitative results of the bone mass density in the implanted site. c Quantitative results of the ratio of immature bone volume to the total bone volume. The data in the figures represent averages ± S.D. The data in the figures represent averages ± S.D. Significant differences between the different groups are indicated as **P < 0.01, compared with saline-treated induced membrane in the subcutaneous site; ^##P < 0.01, compared with saline-treated induced membrane in the femoral defect site. d X-ray image of explanted femurs 12 weeks after the second surgical step. Bone graft harvested from caudal vertebrae was used to fill the cavity delineated by different induced membranes. Grafts in vehicle-treated rats showed no bridging callus formation between the fracture end and graft (white arrow). Successful bone union was achieved in the grafted femurs in DAPT-modified induced membrane. For each group, n = 5