Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Tissue Engineering

Abstract

The repair of diseased or damaged cartilage remains one of the most challenging problems of musculoskeletal medicine. Tissue engineering advances in cartilage repair have utilized autologous and allogenic chondrocyte and cartilage grafts, biomaterial scaffolds, growth factors, stem cells, and genetic engineering. The mesenchymal stem cell has specifically attracted much attention because of its accessibility, potential for differentiation, and manipulability to modern molecular, tissue and genetic engineering techniques. Mesenchymal stem cells provide invaluable tools for the study of tissue repair when combined with a carrier vehicle/matrix scaffold, and/or bioactive growth factors. However, an underappreciated source of knowledge lies in the relationship between fetal development and adult tissue repair. The multitude of events that take place during fetal development which lead from stem cell to functional tissue are poorly understood. A more thorough understanding of the events of development as they pertain to cartilage organogenesis may help elucidate some of the unknowns of adult tissue repair.

Sirtuin-1 (SIRT1) Is Required for Promoting Chondrogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

“…Adult MSCs are easy to isolate from bone marrow or adipose tissue and expand in vitro, and they provide a suitable source of cells for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (2,4). Moreover, adult MSCs are a practicable alternative and an ethically accepted source of multipotent cells compared with the limited use of embryonic or fetal stem cells (5,6). Development of cartilage tissue from MSCs commences with condensation and differentiation (7).…”

Biomaterial technology for tissue engineering applications

“…This basic concept of biomaterial-based tissue engineering was originally introduced by Langer & Vacanti (1993). Cell scaffold and biosignalling molecule delivery technologies with biomaterials have been demonstrated to create cell environments suitable for tissue regeneration (Saltzman & Olbricht 2002;Bach et al 2003;Bannasch et al 2003;Chen & Mooney 2003;Hubbell 2004;Langer & Tirrell 2004;Silva & Mooney 2004;Kuo et al 2006;Leo & Grande 2006;Tabata 2008). For the former approach, generally, cells are transplanted into the body by the bolus injection or infusion method.…”

Fetal mesenchymal stem cells: isolation, properties and potential use in perinatology and regenerative medicine

“…SCs with their remarkable proliferation and differentiation properties are theoretically better candidates. 52 For prenatally diagnosed structural defects, there is the opportunity of obtaining homologous cells at the time of invasive sampling, like chorionic villi biopsy, amniocentesis or cordocentesis. Redundant or purposely obtained fetal cells could be harvested, cultured and manipulated in vitro, during the remainder of pregnancy and later used for tissue engineering of graft material that will be used for postnatal reconstruction.…”