9 research outputs found
Novel injectable gel (system) as a vehicle for human articular chondrocytes in cartilage tissue regeneration
We developed a novel injectable carrageenan/fibrin/hyaluronic acid-based hydrogel with in situ
gelling properties to be seeded with chondrogenic cells and used for cartilage tissue engineering
applications. We first analysed the distribution within the hydrogel construct and the phenotype of
human articular chondrocytes (HACs) cultured for 3 weeks in vitro. We observed a statistically
significant increase in the cell number during the first 2 weeks and maintenance of cell
viability throughout the cell culture, together with the deposition/formation of a cartilage-specific
extracellular matrix (ECM). Taking advantage of a new in vivo model that allows the integration
between newly formed and preexisting cartilage in immunodeficient mice to be investigated, we
showed that injectable hydrogel seeded with human articular chondrocytes was able to regenerate
and repair an experimentally made lesion in bovine articular cartilage, thus demonstrating the
potential of this novel cell delivery system for cartilage tissue engineering.The authors are grateful to Recco orthopaedic staff members for the collaboration and patients for bioptic material donation as well as to Mrs Daniela Marubbi for histological assistance. This work was supported by funds from the Italian MUR (FIRB-Tissuenet project), the European Union-funded STREP project, HIPPOCRATES (Grant No. NMP3-CT-2003-505758) and the European NoE EXPERTISSUES project (Grant No. NMP3-CT-2004-500283)
Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) for aged patients: development of the proper cell expansion conditions for a possible therapeutic application
Proliferation and chondrogenic commitment of cultured articular chondrocytes are impaired when cells derive from aged donors. In those subjects the feasibility of cell-based therapies for articular surface repair is reduced. Moreover, the use of serum as medium supplement elicits non-physiological responses in cultured chondrocytes. This study was therefore undertaken to identify the expansion culture conditions needed to sustain growth and chondrogenic commitment of chondrocytes harvested from aged human subjects