Fink Trine, Rasmussen Jeppe G, Emmersen Jeppe, Pilgaard Linda, Fahlman Åsa, Brunberg Sven, Josefsson Johan, Arnemo Jon M, Zachar Vladimir, Swenson Jon E, Fröbert Ole
Laboratory for Stem Cell Research, Aalborg University, Denmark.
Stem Cell Res. 2011 Jul;7(1):89-95. doi: 10.1016/j.scr.2011.03.003. Epub 2011 Mar 24.
In the den, hibernating brown bears do not develop tissue atrophy or organ damage, despite almost no physical activity. Mesenchymal stem cells could play an important role in tissue repair and regeneration in brown bears. Our objective was to determine if adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs) can be recovered from wild Scandinavian brown bears and characterize their differentiation potential. Following immobilization of wild brown bears 7-10 days after leaving the den in mid-April, adipose tissue biopsies were obtained. ASCs were recovered from 6 bears, and shown to be able to undergo adipogenesis and osteogenesis in monolayer cultures and chondrogenesis in pellet cultures. Remarkably, when grown in standard cell culture medium in monolayer cultures, ASCs from yearlings spontaneously formed bone-like nodules surrounded by cartilaginous deposits, suggesting differentiation into osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages. This ability appears to be lost gradually with age. This is the first study to demonstrate stem cell recovery and growth from brown bears, and it is the first report of ASCs spontaneously forming extracellular matrix characteristic of bone and cartilage in the absence of specific inducers. These findings could have implications for the use of hibernating brown bears as a model to study disuse osteoporosis.
在洞穴中，冬眠的棕熊尽管几乎没有身体活动，但并未出现组织萎缩或器官损伤。间充质干细胞可能在棕熊的组织修复和再生中发挥重要作用。我们的目的是确定是否可以从野生斯堪的纳维亚棕熊中获取脂肪组织来源的干细胞（ASC），并表征其分化潜能。在4月中旬棕熊出洞7至10天后对其进行麻醉固定，然后获取脂肪组织活检样本。从6只熊中获取了ASC，并证明它们在单层培养中能够进行脂肪生成和成骨，在微团培养中能够进行软骨生成。值得注意的是，在单层培养的标准细胞培养基中生长时，一岁棕熊的ASC会自发形成被软骨沉积物包围的骨样结节，这表明它们分化为成骨和成软骨谱系。这种能力似乎会随着年龄的增长而逐渐丧失。这是第一项证明从棕熊中获取干细胞并使其生长的研究，也是关于ASC在没有特定诱导剂的情况下自发形成骨和软骨细胞外基质特征的首次报道。这些发现可能对将冬眠棕熊用作研究废用性骨质疏松症的模型具有启示意义。
