Embryonic stem cells cultured in biodegradable scaffold repair infarcted myocardium in mice. (1/1771)

Our previous findings demonstrated that directly injecting embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into ischemic region of the heart improved cardiac function in animals with experimental myocardial infarction (MI). Tissue engineering with stem cells may provide tissue creation and repair. This study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of grafting of ESC-seeded biodegradable patch on infarcted heart. MI in mice was induced by ligation of the left coronary artery. Mouse ESCs were seeded on polyglycolic-acid (PGA) material patches. Three days after culture, an ESC-seeded patch was transplanted on the surface of ischemic and peri-ischemic myocardium. Eight weeks after MI operation and patch transplantation, hemodynamics and cardiac function were evaluated in four (sham-operated, MI, MI + cell-free patch, and MI + ESC-patch) groups of mice. The blood pressure and left ventricular function were significantly reduced in the MI animals. Compared with MI alone and MI + cell-free patch groups, the animals received MI + ESC-seeded patches significantly improved blood pressure and ventricular function. The survival rate of the MI mice grafted with MI + ESC-seeded patches was markedly higher than that in MI alone or MI + cell-free patch animals. GFP-positive tissue was detected in infarcted area with grafting of ESC-seeded patch, which suggests the survivors of ESCs and possible myocardial regeneration. Our data demonstrate that grafting of ESC-seeded bioabsorbable patch can repair infarcted myocardium and improve cardiac function in MI mice. This novel approach of combining stem cells and biodegradable materials may provide a therapeutic modality for repairing injured heart.  (+info)

Instrumented fusion of thoracolumbar fracture with type I mineralized collagen matrix combined with autogenous bone marrow as a bone graft substitute: a four-case report. (2/1771)

In order to avoid the morbidity from autogenous bone harvesting, bone graft substitutes are being used more frequently in spinal surgery. There is indirect radiological evidence that bone graft substitutes are efficacious in humans. The purpose of this four-case study was to visually, manually, and histologically assess the quality of a fusion mass produced by a collagen hydroxyapatite scaffold impregnated with autologous bone marrow aspirate for posterolateral fusion. Four patients sustained an acute thoracolumbar fracture and were treated by short posterior segment fusion using the AO fixateur interne. Autologous bone marrow (iliac crest) impregnated hydroxyapatite-collagen scaffold was laid on the decorticated posterior elements. Routine implant removal was performed after a mean of 15.3 months (12-20). During this second surgery, fusion mass was assessed visually and manually. A bone biopsy was sent for histological analysis of all four cases. Fusion was confirmed in all four patients intraoperatively and sagittal stress testing confirmed mechanical adequacy of the fusion mass. Three out of the four (cases 2-4) had their implants removed between 12 and 15 months after the index surgery. All their histological cuts showed evidence of newly formed bone and presence of active membranous and/or enchondral ossification foci. The last patient (case 1) underwent implant removal at 20 months and his histological cuts showed mature bone, but no active ossification foci. This four-case report suggests that the fusion mass produced by a mineralized collagen matrix graft soaked in aspirated bone marrow is histologically and mechanically adequate in a thoracolumbar fracture model. A larger patient series and/or randomized controlled studies are warranted to confirm these initial results.  (+info)

Designer self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds for adult mouse neural stem cell 3-dimensional cultures. (3/1771)

Biomedical researchers have become increasingly aware of the limitations of conventional 2-dimensional tissue cell culture systems, including coated Petri dishes, multi-well plates and slides, to fully address many critical issues in cell biology, cancer biology and neurobiology, such as the 3-D microenvironment, 3-D gradient diffusion, 3-D cell migration and 3-D cell-cell contact interactions. In order to fully understand how cells behave in the 3-D body, it is important to develop a well-controlled 3-D cell culture system where every single ingredient is known. Here we report the development of a 3-D cell culture system using a designer peptide nanofiber scaffold with mouse adult neural stem cells. We attached several functional motifs, including cell adhesion, differentiation and bone marrow homing motifs, to a self-assembling peptide RADA16 (Ac-RADARADARADARADA-COHN2). These functionalized peptides undergo self-assembly into a nanofiber structure similar to Matrigel. During cell culture, the cells were fully embedded in the 3-D environment of the scaffold. Two of the peptide scaffolds containing bone marrow homing motifs significantly enhanced the neural cell survival without extra soluble growth and neurotrophic factors to the routine cell culture media. In these designer scaffolds, the cell populations with beta-Tubulin(+), GFAP(+) and Nestin(+) markers are similar to those found in cell populations cultured on Matrigel. The gene expression profiling array experiments showed selective gene expression, possibly involved in neural stem cell adhesion and differentiation. Because the synthetic peptides are intrinsically pure and a number of desired function cellular motifs are easy to incorporate, these designer peptide nanofiber scaffolds provide a promising controlled 3-D culture system for diverse tissue cells, and are useful as well for general molecular and cell biology.  (+info)

Prospects of micromass culture technology in tissue engineering. (4/1771)

Tissue engineering of bone and cartilage tissue for subsequent implantation is of growing interest in cranio- and maxillofacial surgery. Commonly it is performed by using cells coaxed with scaffolds. Recently, there is a controversy concerning the use of artificial scaffolds compared to the use of a natural matrix. Therefore, new approaches called micromass technology have been invented to overcome these problems by avoiding the need for scaffolds. Technically, cells are dissociated and the dispersed cells are then reaggregated into cellular spheres. The micromass technology approach enables investigators to follow tissue formation from single cell sources to organised spheres in a controlled environment. Thus, the inherent fundamentals of tissue engineering are better revealed. Additionally, as the newly formed tissue is devoid of an artificial material, it resembles more closely the in vivo situation. The purpose of this review is to provide an insight into the fundamentals and the technique of micromass cell culture used to study bone tissue engineering.  (+info)

Biological designer self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds significantly enhance osteoblast proliferation, differentiation and 3-D migration. (5/1771)

A class of self-assembling peptide nanofiber scaffolds has been shown to be an excellent biological material for 3-dimension cell culture and stimulating cell migration into the scaffold, as well as for repairing tissue defects in animals. We report here the development of several peptide nanofiber scaffolds designed specifically for osteoblasts. We designed one of the pure self-assembling peptide scaffolds RADA16-I through direct coupling to short biologically active motifs. The motifs included osteogenic growth peptide ALK (ALKRQGRTLYGF) bone-cell secreted-signal peptide, osteopontin cell adhesion motif DGR (DGRGDSVAYG) and 2-unit RGD binding sequence PGR (PRGDSGYRGDS). We made the new peptide scaffolds by mixing the pure RAD16 and designer-peptide solutions, and we examined the molecular integration of the mixed nanofiber scaffolds using AFM. Compared to pure RAD16 scaffold, we found that these designer peptide scaffolds significantly promoted mouse pre-osteoblast MC3T3-E1 cell proliferation. Moreover, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and osteocalcin secretion, which are early and late markers for osteoblastic differentiation, were also significantly increased. We demonstrated that the designer, self-assembling peptide scaffolds promoted the proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of MC3T3-E1. Under the identical culture medium condition, confocal images unequivocally demonstrated that the designer PRG peptide scaffold stimulated cell migration into the 3-D scaffold. Our results suggest that these designer peptide scaffolds may be very useful for promoting bone tissue regeneration.  (+info)

In vitro chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells in recombinant silk-elastinlike hydrogels. (6/1771)

PURPOSE: In this study the chondrocytic differentiation and cartilage matrix accumulation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were investigated after encapsulation in a genetically engineered silk-elastinlike protein polymer SELP-47 K as an injectable matrix for delivery of cell-based therapeutics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: hMSCs were encapsulated in SELP-47 K and cultured for 4 weeks in chondrogenic medium with or without transforming growth factor-beta3 (TGF). Chondrogenic differentiation was evaluated by histological, RNA and biochemical analyses for the expression of cartilage extracellular matrix components. RESULTS: Histological and immunohistochemical staining revealed that the cells acquired a rounded morphology and were embedded in significant amounts of chondrogenic extracellular matrix. Reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR showed an up-regulation in aggrecan, type II and type X collagen and SOX9 in presence of TGF-beta3. By day 28, constructs cultured in the presence of TGF-beta3 exhibited significant increase in sulfated glycosaminoglycan and total collagen content up to 65 and 300%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that SELP-47 K hydrogel can be used as a scaffold for encapsulation and chondrogenesis of hMSCs. The ability to use recombinant techniques to precisely control SELP structure enables the investigation of injectable protein polymer scaffolds for soft-tissue engineering with varied physicochemical properties.  (+info)

Porous silk scaffolds can be used for tissue engineering annulus fibrosus. (7/1771)

There is no optimal treatment for symptomatic degenerative disc disease which affects millions of people worldwide. One novel approach would be to form a patch or tissue replacement to repair the annulus fibrosus (AF) through which the NP herniates. As the optimal scaffold for this has not been defined the purpose of this study was to determine if porous silk scaffolds would support AF cell attachment and extracellular matrix accumulation and whether chemically decorating the scaffold with RGD peptide, which has been shown to enhance attachment for other cell types, would further improve AF cell attachment and tissue formation. Annulus fibrosus cells were isolated from bovine caudal discs and seeded into porous silk scaffolds. The percent cell attachment was quantified and the cell morphology and distribution within the scaffold was evaluated using scanning electron microscopy. The cell-seeded scaffolds were grown for up to 8 weeks and evaluated for gene expression, histological appearance and matrix accumulation. AF cells attach to porous silk scaffolds, proliferate and synthesize and accumulate extracellular matrix as demonstrated biochemically and histologically. Coupling the silk scaffold with RGD-peptides did not enhance cell attachment nor tissue formation but did affect cell morphology. As well, the cells had higher levels of type II collagen and aggrecan gene expression when compared to cells grown on the non-modified scaffold, a feature more in keeping with cells of the inner annulus. Porous silk is an appropriate scaffold on which to grow AF cells. Coupling RGD peptide to the scaffold appears to influence AF cell phenotype suggesting that it may be possible to select an appropriate scaffold that favours inner annulus versus outer annulus differentiation which will be important for tissue engineering an intervertebral disc.  (+info)

An overview of tissue engineering approaches for management of spinal cord injuries. (8/1771)

Severe spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to devastating neurological deficits and disabilities, which necessitates spending a great deal of health budget for psychological and healthcare problems of these patients and their relatives. This justifies the cost of research into the new modalities for treatment of spinal cord injuries, even in developing countries. Apart from surgical management and nerve grafting, several other approaches have been adopted for management of this condition including pharmacologic and gene therapy, cell therapy, and use of different cell-free or cell-seeded bioscaffolds. In current paper, the recent developments for therapeutic delivery of stem and non-stem cells to the site of injury, and application of cell-free and cell-seeded natural and synthetic scaffolds have been reviewed.  (+info)

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