Tissue engineering of cartilage in space

Abstract

Tissue engineering of cartilage, i.e., the in vitro cultivation of cartilage cells on synthetic polymer scaffolds, was studied on the Mir Space Station and on Earth. Specifically, three-dimensional cell-polymer constructs consisting of bovine articular chondrocytes and polyglycolic acid scaffolds were grown in rotating bioreactors, first for 3 months on Earth and then for an additional 4 months on either Mir (10 ؊4 -10 ؊6 g) or Earth (1 g). This mission provided a unique opportunity to study the feasibility of long-term cell culture f light experiments and to assess the effects of spacef light on the growth and function of a model musculoskeletal tissue. Both environments yielded cartilaginous constructs, each weighing between 0.3 and 0.4 g and consisting of viable, differentiated cells that synthesized proteoglycan and type II collagen. Compared with the Earth group, Mir-grown constructs were more spherical, smaller, and mechanically inferior. The same bioreactor system can be used for a variety of controlled microgravity studies of cartilage and other tissues. These results may have implications for human spacef light, e.g., a Mars mission, and clinical medicine, e.g., improved understanding of the effects of pseudo-weightlessness in prolonged immobilization, hydrotherapy, and intrauterine development.

Rotating three‐dimensional dynamic culture of adult human bone marrow‐derived cells for tissue engineering of hyaline cartilage

“…Despite studies on the formation of cartilage tissue from chondrocytes cells, 18,19 no report has been published on the production of cartilage tissue from adult human bone marrow-derived cells, including mesenchymal stem cells, by rotating three-dimensional dynamic culture. After 2 weeks of differentiation and induction of adult human bone marrow-derived cells to form cartilage, we compared the two culture methods using the RWV bioreactor and the pellet culture.…”

The Local Matrix Distribution and the Functional Development of Tissue Engineered Cartilage, a Finite Element Study

“…8 The construct's mechanical properties can be modulated by adjusting the parameters that define the culture environment, such as scaffold material, 25 hydrodynamic conditions, 36,59 mechanical loading, 5,37,39 addition of growthfactors, 37,44 cell seeding density and nutrition. 40 Although it has been shown that mechanical properties which approach those of natural cartilage can be obtained after long term culture, 17 there is still a lack of control over the functional development of tissue engineered constructs.…”

The effects of simulated microgravity on cultured chicken embryonic chondrocytes

“…The experiment of Freed (Freed, et al 1997) had reported the changes of the cartilage structure and the morphology of the chondrocytes under the real microgravity. Our result about the impairment of the microtubular system maybe is an earlier symptom of the cellular morphological change.…”

“…In spaceflown rats with fractured fibula, formation of cartilage callus was minimal (Kaplansky,et al 199 1). Freed et al (Freed, et al 1997) studied the reconstructed cartilage under microgravity and found that the structure of this reconstructed cartilage as well as the morphology of the chondrocytes had changed. In our experiment, the cultured chicken embryonic chondrocytes were used as the experimental material.…”