Osteogenically differentiated mesenchymal stem cells and ceramics for bone tissue engineering

Abstract

Introduction: In the human body, cells having self-renewal and multi-differentiation capabilities reside in many tissues and are called adult stem cells. In bone marrow tissue, two types of stem cells are well known: hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Though the number of MSCs in bone marrow tissue is very low, it can be increased by in vitro culture of the marrow, and culture-expanded MSCs are available for various tissue regeneration.

Areas covered: The culture-expanded MSCs can further differentiate into osteogenic cells such as bone forming osteoblasts by culturing the MSCs in an osteogenic medium. This paper discusses osteogenically differentiated MSCs derived from the bone marrow of patients. Importantly, the differentiation can be achieved on ceramic surfaces which demonstrate mineralized bone matrix formation as well as appearance of osteogenic cells. The cell/matrix/ceramic constructs could show immediate in vivo bone formation and are available for bone reconstruction surgery.

Expert opinion: Currently, MSCs are clinically available for the regeneration of various tissues due to their high proliferation/differentiation capabilities. However, the capabilities are still limited and thus technologies to improve or recover the inherent capabilities of MSCs are needed.

Keywords::

• bone marrow
• bone regeneration
• ceramics
• iPS cells
• mesenchymal stem cells
• regenerative medicine
• stem cells
• tissue engineering

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the staff at Health Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), colleagues at Nara Medical University and doctors at Shimane Medical University. I also thank Professor AI Caplan at Case Western Reserve University. He is the godfather of mesenchymal stem cells.

Declaration of interest

This work was partially supported by Health and Labour Sciences Research Grants, Japan. I have no financial interest to declare in relation to the content of this review paper.

Notes

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