Brochhausen Christoph, Zehbe Rolf, Gross Ulrich, Libera Jeanette, Schubert Helmut, Nüsing Rolf M, Klaus Günter, Kirkpatrick C James
REPAIRlab, Institute of Pathology, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany.
Biomed Mater Eng. 2008;18(1):15-23.
Tissue engineering of articular cartilage remains an ongoing challenge. Since tissue regeneration recapitulates ontogenetic processes the growth plate can be regarded as an innovative model to target suitable signalling molecules and growth factors for the tissue engineering of cartilage. In the present study we analysed the expression of cyclooxygenases (COX) in a short-term chondrocyte culture in gelatin-based scaffolds and in articular cartilage of rats and compared it with that in the growth plate. Our results demonstrate the strong cellular expression of COX-1 but only a focal weak expression of COX-2 in the seeded scaffolds. Articular cartilage of rats expresses homogeneously COX-1 and COX-2 with the exception of the apical cell layer. Our findings indicate a functional role of COX in the metabolism of articular chondrocytes. The expression of COX in articular cartilage and in the seeded scaffolds opens interesting perspectives to improve the proliferation and differentiation of chondrocytes in scaffold materials by addition of specific receptor ligands of the COX system.
关节软骨组织工程仍然是一个持续存在的挑战。由于组织再生重现个体发育过程，生长板可被视为一个创新模型，用于寻找适合软骨组织工程的信号分子和生长因子。在本研究中，我们分析了环氧化酶（COX）在基于明胶的支架中短期培养的软骨细胞以及大鼠关节软骨中的表达，并将其与生长板中的表达进行比较。我们的结果表明，在接种的支架中COX-1有强烈的细胞表达，但COX-2只有局灶性弱表达。大鼠关节软骨除顶端细胞层外，均匀表达COX-1和COX-2。我们的研究结果表明COX在关节软骨细胞代谢中具有功能作用。COX在关节软骨和接种支架中的表达为通过添加COX系统的特定受体配体来改善支架材料中软骨细胞的增殖和分化开辟了有趣的前景。
