Objective To review the research appl ication and advance of synovium-derived mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs) in tissue engineering. Methods The recent related l iterature was reviewed, concerning isolation method, characteristics of SMSCs, and its appl ication in tissue engineering. Results SMSCs are multi potent cell population with characteristics of easy isolation and high prol iferation, which have been appl icated in the cartilage, tendon, l igament, and bone tissue engineering. Conclusion SMSCs is a new member of mesenchymal stem cells family. It appears to be promising seedcells for tissue engineering, but further research is needed.
To study the method of isolating and culturing synovium-derived MSCs (SMSCs), and to investigate its multiple differentiation potential in vitro. Methods Three 2-month-old Changfeng hybrid swines weighing 8-10 kg (male and female) were used. SMSCs were harvested from the synovium of swine knee joints and cultured in vitro. When the SMSCs at passage 3 reached confluence, basic culture medium was removed, and the multi ple differentiationpotential of SMSCs was demonstrated in specific induction media (experimental group). The cells at passage 3 cultured with basic culture medium served as control group. After 21 days of chondrogenic differentiation, the cells underwent toluidine blue staining, immunohistochemistry staining and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR detection. After 10 and 21 days of osteogenic differentiation, the cells underwent ALP staining and Al izarin red staining, respectively. After 21 days of adipogenic differentiation, the cells underwent Oil red O staining. Results SMSCs displayed long and thin or polygonal morphology 24 hours after culture. They prol iferated fast 48 hours after culture and presented large number of spindle-shaped cells with few globular cells 72 hours after culture. For the experimental group 21 days after chondrogenic induction, the cells were positive for toluidine blue staining with the formation of Aggrecan outside the cells; the immunohistochemistry staining revealed the expression of Col II; the real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR detection showed that the expressions of Col II A1, Aggrecan and SOX9 mRNA of the experimental group were greater than that of control group (P lt; 0.05). The cells were positive for ALP staining 10 days after osteogenic induction, and positive for Al izarin red staining 21 days after osteogenic induction, with the formation of calcium nodules. Oil red O staining displayed the formation of l i pid droplets inside the cells 21 days after adi pogenic induction. For the control group, the results of all the staining assays were negative except the ALP staining presenting with sl ight positive result. Conclusion SMSCs can be isolated from knee joint of swine and proliferate and differentiate into osteogenic, adi pogenic and chondrogenic cells in vitro. SMSCs may be a promising source of seed cells for tissue engineering.
Objective To study the effects of the periosteum，synovium andcartilage tissues on the gene expressions of proteoglycan, collagen Ⅱ, andnuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and to investigate the different effects of these tissues on cartilage regeneration. Methods In 20 New Zealand white rabbits, 20 cartilage explants were taken from the knee joints in each rabbit, the sizeof which was 4 mm×4 mm×4 mm. All the cartilages were divided into the following 4 groups and cultured for 7 days: Group A, with 5 pieces (2 mm×2 mm) of the synovium of theknee joints in each dish; Group B, with 5 pieces (2 mm×2 mm) of the periosteum ineach dish; Group C, with 5 pieces (2 mm×2 mm×2 mm) of the cartilage in each dish; and Group D, with no addition of other tissues (control group). RNA was extracted from the cells of the cartilage explants (4 mm×4 mm×4 mm) in all the dishes. Thegene expressions of proteoglycan, collagen Ⅱ and NF-κB were defected by a reversetranscription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Results In group A, the gene expression of proteoglycan was significantly decreased. The relative density of this gene expression had a significant difference when compared with that in group D (1.09±0.21 vs. 1.25±0.25, Plt;0.05); the gene expressions of collagen Ⅱ and NF-κB were also decreased, but they had no significant differences when compared with those in group D (Pgt;0.05). In groupB, the gene expressions of proteoglycan, collagen Ⅱ, and NF-κB were significantly increased. The relative densities of these gene expressions were 1.60±0.26, 1.57±0.24, and 4.20±2.22, respectively, which had significant differences when compared with those in group D (Plt;0.05). In group C, the relative density of the gene expression of collagen Ⅱ was 1.43±0.28, which had a significant difference when compared with that in group D (Plt;0.05), but therelative densities of the gene expressions of proteoglycan and NF-κB had no significant differences when compared with those in group D (Pgt;0.05). Conclusion The results indicate that the periosteum can up-regulate the gene expressions of proteoglycan, collagen Ⅱ and NF-κB. The NF-κB is likely to be an important nuclear transcription factor related to cartilage regeneration. The results also suggest that the periosteum maybe better in facilitating the cartilage repair and regeneration in clinical practice.
ObjectiveTo investigate the role of CXCL13 in the onset and development of knee osteoarthritis by observing and comparing the expression of CXCL13 between osteoarthritis and normal synovium. MethodsThe synovium samples were collected from 30 patients with osteoarthritis who received total knee replacement (osteoarthritis group), including 11 males and 19 females with an average age of 66.7 years (range, 62-76 years). The synovium samples were collected from 22 patients without osteoarthritis who underwent traumatic amputation (control group), including 15 males and 7 females with an average age of 51.3 years (range, 48-56 years). The NimbleGen microarray detection was used to defect differentially expressed genes; the immunohistochemistry staining, Western blot, and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) were used to detect the expressions of CXCL13 mRNA and protein. ResultsThere were 451 up-regulated genes and 810 down-regulated genes in the 22 885 genes which contained by mRNA gene chip, and CXCL13 gene expression was down-regulated. Immunohistochemistry staining and Western blot assay showed that the expression of CXCL13 protein was significantly lower in osteoarthritis group (0.408 0±0.101 8) than in control group (0.785 9±0.057 9) (t=15.630, P=0.000). qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of CXCL13 mRNA was significantly lower in osteoarthritis group (0.011 7±0.003 2) than in control group (1.041 4±0.129 7) (t=43.634, P=0.000). ConclusionLow expression of CXCL13 in the knee osteoarthritis synovium tissue may be associated with the onset and development of knee osteoarthritis.
ObjectiveTo investigate the osteogenic differentiation potential and the biological features of synovium-derived mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs) in vitro and to observe the osteogenic capability of the composite scaffolds constructed with SMSCs and hydroxylapatite/chitosan/poly L-latic acid (HA/CS/PLLA) in vivo. MethodSMSCs were separated and cultured with adherent method and enzymatic digestion method. Specific phenotypes of SMSCs were detected by flow cytometry after purification. Then, SMSCs were identified by oil red O staining, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) staining, and alizarin red staining after adipogenic and osteogenic induction, respectively. In vitro experiments:the expressions of osteogenic related genes[osteocalcin (OCN), collagen type I, ALP, and Runx-2] were detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR at 1, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after osteogenic induction; ALP activities were also determined by ELISA at 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 days after osteogenic induction; meanwhile, extracellular matrix calcium mineralization was detected by alizarin red S method at 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after osteogenic induction; the normal SMSCs were harvested as control group. In vivo experiments:Twenty-four Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into experimental group (n=12) and control group (n=12) . The 3rd passage SMSCs were seeded on HA/CS/PLLA to construct composite scaffolds, after adhesion for 72 hours in vitro, the composite scaffolds were implanted into the right thigh muscle of 12 SD rats as experimental group; HA/CS/PLLA was implanted into the right thigh muscle of the other 12 SD rats as control group. At 4 and 8 weeks after implantation, the scaffolds were harvested for X-ray film and histological examination to observe ectopic bone formation. ResultsThe positive rates of CD147, CD90, CD105, and CD44 were more than 95%, while the positive rates of CD117, CD34, CD14, and CD45 were less than 10%. Oil red O staining demonstrated red lipid droplets in the cytoplasm, and alizarin red staining showed flaky red calcifications, and cytoplasm was dyed brown by the ALP staining. The mRNA expressions of collagen type I, ALP, and Runx-2 were significantly increased at 7 days after osteogenic induction, and OCN mRNA expression was significantly increased at 14 days after osteogenic induction; ALP activity was significantly higher at 5, 7, 9, 11 days after osteogenic induction in the SMSC-induced group than control group and reached a maximum at 7 days (P<0.05) . Calcium mineralization was significantly enhanced at 14 days after osteogenic induction, and gradually increased with time (P<0.05) ; moreover, it was significantly higher in the SMSC-induced group than control group (P<0.05) . X-ray and histological examination demonstrated that the new bone tissues formed in 2 groups, but bone formation content of the experimental group was significantly more than that of the control group at 4 and 8 weeks after implantation (P<0.05) . ConclusionsSMSCs can be induced into osteoblasts both in vitro and in vivo, so SMSCs might be a promising seed cells for bone tissue engineering.
ObjectiveTo investigate the anti-apoptotic ability of synovium-derived mesenchymal stem cells (SMSCs) by comparing the apoptosis induced by tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) between SMSCs and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs). MethodSMSCs and BMSCs were isolated with tissue adhering and density gradient centrifugation respectively, and cells at passages 3-5 were used in further experiments. After immunophenotype identification and differentiation induction, cells were divided into 4 groups. In the experimental groups, apoptosis of SMSCs and BMSCs were induced by 20 ng/mL TNF-α and 10 μg/mL cycloheximide, and cells were cultured in normal culture medium in the control groups. Cellular morphology were observed by inverted phase contrast microscope. After apoptosis induction for 24 hours, cell viability was determined by cell counting kit 8 assay and apoptotic index was detected by flow cytometer. Moreover, the level of Cleaved Caspase-8, 3 were determined by Western blot. ResultsBoth SMSCs and BMSCs accorded with the definition criteria of MSCs according to results of immunophenotype identification and differentiation induction. After apoptosis induction, cells became shrinking and partially floated and cellular morphologies became worse than those in the control groups. After apoptosis induction for 24 hours, cell viabilities of SMSCs and BMSCs in the control groups were both 100%, and no apoptotic cells were observed. However, cell viabilities of SMSCs and BMSCs in the experimental groups were 60.13%±8.63% and 46.55%±10.54% respectively, which were both significantly lower than those in the control groups (P<0.05) , and cell viability in the SMSCs experimental group was significantly higher than that in the BMSCs experimental group (t=3.152, P=0.006) . The apoptotic index was 36.54%±8.63% in the SMSCs experimental group and was 53.77%±11.52% in the BMSCs experimental group, both were significantly higher than the control groups (1.12%±0.24% and 1.35%±0.31%) (P<0.05) . What's more, it was significantly lower in SMSCs experimental group than that in BMSCs experimental group (t=3.785, P=0.001) . Moreover, no expression of Cleaved Caspase-8, 3 was detected in the control groups. But the levels of Cleaved Caspase-8, 3 were significantly enhanced in the experimental groups and they were lower in SMSCs than in BMSCs (t=13.870, P=0.000; t=7.309, P=0.000) . ConclusionsTNF-α induced apoptosis is lower in SMSCs than in BMSCs, which means that SMSCs may have stronger anti-apoptosis ability than BMSCs.