BACKGROUND: The osteoblastogenetic function of stem cell and local vasoformation is an important influencing factor in bone tissue engineering restoration.OBJECTIVE: To investigate the function of osteoblast induced, cultured and differentiated from mesenchymal stem cells(MSCs) and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factors(VEGF) in rabbits in itro.DESIGN: A single sample study and repetitive observational measurement by using cells as subjects SETTING: Department of histology and embryology in a university MATERIALS: The study was conducted in the Department of Histology and Embryology of Guangdong Medical College between March and December of 2002. The subjects were rabbits' MSCs.METHODS: The MSCs of newborn rabbits ere isolated and cultured. The cultured cells were induced to osteoblastogenesis with an osteo-inductive medium containing dexamethasone, ascorbic acid and β-glycerophosphate to observe the coloration of alkaline phosphates(ALP) and the formation of mineralized nodule in the cultured cells.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① observation of cell morphology, ②identification of steoblastogenesis from the cultured cells ③ expression of VEGF in osteoblasts derived from the cultured cells RESULTS: fter MSCs osteo-inductive culture, cells had strong ALP staining with the formation of mineralized node, and the VEGF expression enhanced with the grey scale of 132.3 ± 4.6, which was significantly different from that of the VEGF expression in MSCs( 148.5 ± 5.3) ( P ＜ 0.05).CONCLUSION: MSCs can be induced into osteoblasts with enhanced expression of VEGF, which might participate in the formation of endothelial cells.