Isolation, culture and biological characteristics of multipotent porcine tendon-derived stem cells

Abstract

Tendon-derived stem cells (TDSCs), a postulated multi-potential stem cell population, play significant role in the postnatal replenishment of tendon injuries. However, the majority of experimental materials were obtained from horse, rat, human and rabbit, but rarely from pig. In this research, 1‑day‑old pig was chosen as experimental sample source to isolate and culture TDSCs in vitro. Specific markers of TDSCs were then characterized by immunofluorescence and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) assays. The results showed that TDSCs could be expanded for 11 passages in vitro. The expression of specific markers, such as collagen Ⅰ, collagen Ⅲ, α‑smooth muscle actin (α‑SMA), CD105 and CD90 were observed by immunofluorescence and RT‑PCR. TDSCs were induced to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes, respectively. These results suggest that TDSCs isolated from porcine tendon exhibit the characteristics of multipotent stem cells. TDSCs, therefore, may be potential candidates for cellular transplantation therapy and tissue engineering in tendon injuries.

Tendon stem/progenitor cell ageing: Modulation and rejuvenation

“…Traditionally, tenocytes were considered the only cell present in tendon tissue and play a critical role in tendons metabolism. This hypothesis did not change until the isolation and identification of TSPCs in many tendon fascicles, including mouse[11], human[19], rat[20], rabbit[21], turkey[22], porcine[23] and fetal bovine tendon fascicles[24] in recent years. Although TSPCs represent a minor percentage of the tendon cell composition, these cells possess features such as self-renewal, clonogenicity and multidifferentiation and TSPCs are distinguished by the presence of stem cell markers[21].…”

Comparison of Tenocyte Populations from the Core and Periphery of Equine Tendons

“…Experiments were performed based on a previously published protocol . To detect the proliferative capacity of tenocytes derived from the core and periphery of horse SDFT in vitro , cells between passages of 1 and 3 were plated in a 24-well plate at a density of 1 × 10 4 cells/well and cultured for 10 days in culture medium at 37 °C in 5% CO 2 .…”

“…Experiments were performed based on a previously published protocol. 27 To detect the proliferative capacity of tenocytes derived from the core and periphery of horse SDFT in vitro, cells between passages of 1 and 3 were plated in a 24-well plate at a density of 1 × 10 4 cells/well and cultured for 10 days in culture medium at 37 °C in 5% CO 2 . For each cell preparation, trypsinized cells from three individual wells were counted every 2 days (at days 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10), and from each well, the mean number of cells was calculated from three measurements.…”

The Functions and Mechanisms of Tendon Stem/Progenitor Cells in Tendon Healing

“…TSPCs are located in a niche composed mainly of ECM, which consists mainly of two small proteoglycans, Bgn and Fmod. Subsequently, TSPCs from different sites (patellar tendon, Achilles tendon, supraspinatus tendon, and so forth) of rat, rabbit, and pig have been extracted by various researchers [23][24][25]. TSPCs from diverse sites of different species have different cell morphologies, including pebble-shaped, spindle-shaped, and rounded, and some are similar to tenocytes in morphology [25,26].…”