Abstract: Objective To clone BMP7 gene in vitro, and determine the expression of BMP7 gene in articular chondrocytes of rabbits cultivated in vitro. Methods The total RNA was acquired from young rabbit particular cartilage, the BMP7 gene was inserted into pcDNA-3.1 to construct eukaryotic expression vector plasmid of pcDNA3.1-BMP7; the target gene-BMP7 was identified respectively by PCR analysis, restriction enounces analysis and nucleotide sequencing; the plasmid was transfected into adult rabbit knee articular chondrocytes, then the expression of BMP7 was detected by in situ hybridization, PCR and Western blotting. Results The cloned BMP7 gene was about 1 300 bp, had the same length and sequence with those reported in GenBank. The expression of BMP7 gene in adult rabbit articular chondrocytes was determined. Conclusion The articular chondrocytes of adult rabb its transfected with pcDNA3.1-BMP7 are constructed sucessfully, and the chondr ocytes can express the target gene BMP7 stably. The transfected chondrocytes can be used in cellular transplantation therapy or in constructing the tissue engineerinig cartilage to repair the articular cartilage defect.

Key words: chondrocytes, genetic vectors