Time-Lapse Photomicrography of the in Vitro Cultured Osteoblast from Otosclerotic Bone

Abstract

Bits of otosclerotic bone removed at the time of stapedectomy surgery are cultured in a clot of chicken plasma and embryo extract and fed with a liquid nutrient of Fetal Calf Serum and Eagle's Balanced Media. The behavior of the multiplying living cells is described. Time-lapse photomicrography is used to study the activity of the cells and the grown specimens are subsequently prepared for histological study.

The cells produced are of three types: fibroblasts, rapidly-moving ameboid cells and pinocytic cells (osteoblasts); each type demonstrating characteristic behavior. The osteoblasts are clearly distinguished by time-lapse photomicrography. Subsequent histology reveals grouping of cells, the presence of osteoclasts around the old-bone fragment and evidence of new osteoid material similar in appearance to that seen in histological sections of fresh uncultured otosclerotic bone.

This investigation was carried out in the Kresge Hearing Research Institute and made possible by support from Public Health Service Grant NB-04562. Presented at the Special Program of the Committee on Conservation of Hearing and the Otosclerosis Study Group at the Sixty-Ninth Annual Session of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology, October 18, 1964, Chicago, III., U.S.A.