ABSTRACT
Osteogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is highly dependent on oxygen supply. We have shown that perfluorotributylamine (PFTBA), a synthetic oxygen carrier, enhances MSC-based bone formation in vivo. Exploring this phenomenon's mechanism, we hypothesize that a transient increase in oxygen levels using PFTBA will affect MSC survival, proliferation, and differentiation, thus increasing bone formation. To test this hypothesis, MSCs overexpressing bone morphogenetic protein 2 were encapsulated in alginate beads that had been supplemented with an emulsion of PFTBA or phosphate-buffered saline. Oxygen measurements showed that supplementation of PFTBA significantly increased the available oxygen level during a 96-h period. PFTBA-containing beads displayed an elevation in cell viability, which was preserved throughout 2 weeks, and a significantly lower ratio of dead cells throughout the experiment. Furthermore, the cells from the control group expressed significantly more hypoxia-related genes such as VEGF, DDIT3, and PKG1. Additionally, PFTBA supplementation led to an increase in the osteogenic differentiation and to a decrease in chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. In conclusion, PFTBA increases the oxygen availability in the vicinity of the MSCs, which suffer oxygen exhaustion shortly after encapsulation in alginate beads. Consequently, cell survival is increased, and hypoxia-related genes are downregulated. In addition, PFTBA promotes osteogenic differentiation over chondrogeneic differentiation, and thereby can accelerate MSC-based bone regeneration.
Subject(s)
Cell Differentiation , Mesenchymal Stem Cells/cytology , Osteogenesis , Oxygen/pharmacology , Animals , Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2/pharmacology , Cell Differentiation/drug effects , Cell Line , Cell Proliferation/drug effects , Cell Survival/drug effects , Chondrogenesis/drug effects , Chondrogenesis/genetics , Down-Regulation/drug effects , Down-Regulation/genetics , Female , Fluorocarbons/pharmacology , Humans , Mesenchymal Stem Cells/drug effects , Mesenchymal Stem Cells/metabolism , Mice , Osteogenesis/drug effects , Subcutaneous Tissue/drug effectsABSTRACT
Regenerative medicine appears to take as its patron, the Titan Prometheus, whose liver was able to regenerate daily, as the field attempts to restore lost, damaged, or aging cells and tissues. The tremendous technological progress achieved during the last decade in gene transfer methods and imaging techniques, as well as recent increases in our knowledge of cell biology, have opened new horizons in the field of regenerative medicine. Genetically engineered cells are a tool for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, albeit a tool whose development is fraught with difficulties. Gene-and-cell therapy offers solutions to severe problems faced by modern medicine, but several impediments obstruct the path of such treatments as they move from the laboratory toward the clinical setting. In this review we provide an overview of recent advances in the gene-and-cell therapy approach and discuss the main hurdles and bottlenecks of this approach on its path to clinical trials and prospective clinical practice.
