  
Human adipose-derived stromal cells show chondrogenic potential in vitro
Last Updated: 2001-02-27 15:16:41 EST (Reuters Health)
By Joene Hendry
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) - Stromal cells, derived from subcutaneous adipose tissue of human donors, can be converted into chondrocyte cells when treated with chondrogenic media, according to data presented Tuesday at the Orthopedic Research Society meeting in San Francisco.
"Under cultured conditions, adipose-derived stromal cells will form cells that manufacture cartilage matrix proteins," Dr. Farshid Guilak of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina told Reuters Health. These findings indicate that damaged cartilage may eventually be repairable with cartilage manufactured outside the body.
Dr. Guilak's group collaborated with investigators from Artecel Sciences, also in Durham, to isolate the stromal cells obtained through liposuction from three human donors. The investigators treated some of the cells with chondrocytic culture media. Treated and control cells were then grown in alginate media for 14 days.
The investigators observed greater than 95% cell viability throughout the 2 weeks in the alginate media. Furthermore, the stromal cells in chondrogenic culture showed significantly increased synthesis of the cartilage-specific matrix molecules when compared with controls.
In animal studies, mouse adipose cells treated by the same process were implanted into a pouch on the mouse. Preliminary findings show that cartilage formed in the mouse after about 3 months, Dr. Guilak told Reuters Health. However, some of the implanted cells formed into fat tissue. Dr. Guilak's team is currently conducting research on how to control the reversion of engineered chondrocytes back to adipose cells.
The long-term potential of this research is that injured cartilage cells could be taken from a patient and grown in vitro into a specific shape to mimic the pre-damaged cartilage. The new cells could then either injected or surgically implanted into the patient at the defect site.
Dr. Guilak noted that such a process would reduce the transmission of disease and would alleviate immune issues. He added, however, "clinical studies are at least 5 years away."
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