Abstract
Aims: Collagen implants are used for repair of chondral defects. We investigated the behavior of human chondrocytes of either healthy or osteoarthritic joints and ovine chondrocytes and bone marrow stromal cells seeded in a collagen-GAG copolymer matrix comprising collagen type I, II and III. Methods: Cells were seeded on matrices and cultured for 12 hours, 4 days, 1 week, 2, 3, and 4 weeks. We evaluated morphology and biosynthetic activity of the cells by histological analysis, immunhistochemistry, electron microscopy, biochemical assays for glycosaminoglycans and DNA, and expression of collagens by RT-PCR. Results: From 12 h to 3 weeks the histology showed a increasing number of spherical cells, consistent with chondrocytic morphology except in the osteoarthritic-chondrocyte-seeded scaffolds. GAG analysis showed an increasing amount in all cell-types except osteoarthritic ones. Human chondro-cytes from healthy cartilage increased the amount from 0 μg/mg GAG at 12 hours to 0,9 μg/mg at 2 weeks. Ovine bone marrow stromal cells from 0,5 μg/mg GAG at 12 hours to 2,9 μg/mg at 4 weeks. Conclusions: The collagen trilayer matrix may be of value as a vehicle for chondro-cyte implantation harvested from healthy cartilage. This matrix also supports the expression of chondrocytic proteins in ovine bone marrow stromal cells without use of growth factors. However, chondrocytes from osteoarthritic cartilage revealed low bioactivity and can not be recommended for cell transplantation procedures.
Theses abstracts were prepared by Professor Dr. Frantz Langlais. Correspondence should be addressed to him at EFORT Central Office, Freihofstrasse 22, CH-8700 Küsnacht, Switzerland.
