Kazemnejad Somaieh, Akhondi Mohammad-Mehdi, Soleimani Masoud, Zarnani Amir Hassan, Khanmohammadi Manijeh, Darzi Saeedeh, Alimoghadam Kamran
Department of Embryology and Stem Cells, Reproductive Biotechnology Research Center, Avicenna Research Institute, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
Int J Artif Organs. 2012 Jan;35(1):55-66. doi: 10.5301/ijao.5000019.
The recent identification of menstrual blood-derived stem cells (MenSCs) as a unique population of stem cells has created enormous promise for tissue engineering. In this study, after characterization of MenSCs in comparison with bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMSCs), the potential of MenSCs seeded into electrospun, biodegradable, nanofibrous scaffolds in order to engineer cartilage was evaluated.
MenSCs and BMSCs were isolated by discontinuous density gradient centrifugation and plastic adherence. After characterization of MenSCs compared with BMSCs, MenSC differentiation into chondrocytes was investigated on a nanofibrous scaffold with specific growth and differentiation factors. The scaffold was prepared from polycaprolactone (PCL) and its surface was modified by plasma treatment.
Flow cytometric analysis of expanded cells showed that MenSCs typically express some surface and intracellular markers associated with BMSCs. But marked expression of OCT-4 and the absence of STRO1 distinguished them from mesenchymal stem cells obtained from bone marrow. Based on scanning electron microscope images, the MenSCs were strongly anchored to the highly porous scaffold, which they penetrated and proliferated on. The scaffold contained an extensive cartilage-like extracellular matrix with about 50% greater glycosaminoglycan content than control MenSCs differentiated in a two-dimensional (2D) culture system (p<0.05). Considerable amounts of proteoglycan were produced by the cells differentiated on the scaffold, as demonstrated by Alcian blue staining. Unlike undifferentiated MenSCs, cells differentiated on the scaffold had strong immunoreactivity with monoclonal antibody against collagen type II.
The evidence presented in this study introduces MenSCs as a suitable stem cell population candidate for cartilage tissue engineering.
近期，月经血源性干细胞（MenSCs）作为一种独特的干细胞群体被鉴定出来，这为组织工程带来了巨大的希望。在本研究中，将MenSCs与骨髓源性干细胞（BMSCs）进行特征比较后，评估了接种到静电纺丝、可生物降解的纳米纤维支架中的MenSCs用于软骨组织工程的潜力。
通过不连续密度梯度离心和塑料贴壁法分离MenSCs和BMSCs。在将MenSCs与BMSCs进行特征比较后，在具有特定生长和分化因子的纳米纤维支架上研究MenSCs向软骨细胞的分化。该支架由聚己内酯（PCL）制备，其表面通过等离子体处理进行修饰。
对扩增细胞的流式细胞术分析表明，MenSCs通常表达一些与BMSCs相关的表面和细胞内标志物。但OCT-4的显著表达和STRO1的缺失使其与从骨髓获得的间充质干细胞区分开来。基于扫描电子显微镜图像，MenSCs牢固地锚定在高度多孔的支架上，并在其上穿透和增殖。该支架含有广泛的软骨样细胞外基质，其糖胺聚糖含量比在二维（2D）培养系统中分化的对照MenSCs高约50%（p<0.05）。如阿尔新蓝染色所示，在支架上分化的细胞产生了大量的蛋白聚糖。与未分化的MenSCs不同，在支架上分化的细胞与抗II型胶原单克隆抗体具有强免疫反应性。
本研究提供的证据表明，MenSCs是软骨组织工程中合适的干细胞群体候选者。
