Premium
Scaffold‐free cell sheet injection results in bone formation
Author(s) -
Akahane Manabu,
Shigematsu Hideki,
Tadokoro Mika,
Ueha Tomoyuki,
Matsumoto Tomohiro,
Tohma Yasuaki,
Kido Akira,
Imamura Tomoaki,
Tanaka Yasuhito
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.835
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-7005
pISSN - 1932-6254
DOI - 10.1002/term.259
Subject(s) - osteocalcin , mesenchymal stem cell , extracellular matrix , chemistry , in vivo , transplantation , scaffold , alkaline phosphatase , biomedical engineering , bone tissue , tissue engineering , cell , pathology , anatomy , medicine , biology , surgery , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology , enzyme
We previously reported a new cell transplantation method in which mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) were cultured as cell sheets. The cultured MSC sheets showed high alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities and osteocalcin (OC) contents. In the present study, we transplanted such sheets by injection to assess whether the injectable MSC sheets could form bone tissue at subcutaneous sites. At 4 weeks after the subcutaneous injection, the injected areas showed hard mass formation. Each mass consisted of newly formed bone, as evaluated by radiographic, histological and gene expression analyses as well as three‐dimensional computed tomography (3D‐CT). Histological analyses revealed extracellular bone matrix together with osteocytes and active osteoblasts. Real‐time PCR analyses showed high ALP and OC mRNA expressions. We also injected the cell sheets into dead bone to determine whether the lost osteogenic potential could be rescued, and histological analyses revealed that the injected cell sheets supplied osteogenic potential to the dead bone. The present study clearly indicates that osteogenic MSC sheets can be transplanted via injection through a needle and that bone formation results in the injected areas. Owing to its usage of a needle for fabrication of in vivo bone tissue, this injection method can be applied as a minimally invasive approach for hard tissue reconstruction. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.