Mesenchymal stem cell therapy for injured growth plate

Abstract

The growth plate has a limited self-healing capacity. Fractures sustained to the growth plate of young children could cause growth disturbances like angular deformity or growth arrest. Established therapies for injured physis only address related complications. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent cells which are capable of differentiating into various cells of the musculoskeletal system. Various MSC types have been tested for physeal regeneration, through in vivo lapine, porcine and ovine models, for the duration of 4-16 weeks. The created defect sizes ranged from 7-50% of the growth plate area, to simulate clinically-encountered cases. In vitro models have also been investigated, as a means to screen potential treatments. The effects of MSCs gathered from these models have revealed its function in the prevention of bone bridge formation, with the subsequent development of organized physeal repair tissue. Possible influential factors like the number of implanted MSCs, preconditioned state, growth factors, chondrocyte-MSC interaction and scaffolds are discussed. Possible further studies to optimize physeal repair based on MSC therapy in articular cartilage are also included.

Management of growth arrest: Current practice and future directions

“…), role of TGFb and FGF in pre-differentiation and proliferation of MSC's, the best material and pore size of scaffolds, and the prochondrogenic effects of dynamic compression and hypoxia on MSC's proliferation. 63…”

Injectable hydrogel loaded with bilayer microspheres to inhibit angiogenesis and promote cartilage regeneration for repairing growth plate injury

“…Recently, advancements in tissue engineering have enabled significant progress in the repair of injured growth plates. This is achieved by incorporating a combination of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) or chondrocytes and growth factors into biologically active scaffolds, aimed at constructing the growth-plate-regenerative cartilage that can replace the injured tissue and perform its original biological function ( Xian and Foster, 2006 ; Shukrimi et al, 2013 ; Wang et al, 2021 ). For instance, Erickson et al demonstrated the use of chitosan-genipin microgels loaded with stromal-cell derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) or transforming growth factor β3 (TGF-β3) ( Erickson et al, 2021a ).…”