title: Tissue engineering of cartilage in space.
abstract: Tissue engineering of cartilage, i.e., the in vitro cultivation of cartilage cells on synthetic polymer scaffolds, was studied on the Mir Space Station and on Earth. Specifically, three-dimensional cell-polymer constructs consisting of bovine articular chondrocytes and polyglycolic acid scaffolds were grown in rotating bioreactors, first for 3 months on Earth and then for an additional 4 months on either Mir (10(-4)-10(-6) g) or Earth (1 g). This mission provided a unique opportunity to study the feasibility of long-term cell culture flight experiments and to assess the effects of spaceflight on the growth and function of a model musculoskeletal tissue. Both environments yielded cartilaginous constructs, each weighing between 0.3 and 0.4 g and consisting of viable, differentiated cells that synthesized proteoglycan and type II collagen. Compared with the Earth group, Mir-grown constructs were more spherical, smaller, and mechanically inferior. The same bioreactor system can be used for a variety of controlled microgravity studies of cartilage and other tissues. These results may have implications for human spaceflight, e.g., a Mars mission, and clinical medicine, e.g., improved understanding of the effects of pseudo-weightlessness in prolonged immobilization, hydrotherapy, and intrauterine development.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Sciences and Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. Lfreed@mit.edu
authors.forename: L E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Freed
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langer
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Pellis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vunjak-Novakovic
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D019149:Bioreactors; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology; D002417:Cattle; D006801:Humans; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D011108:Polymers; D013026:Space Flight; D014893:Weightlessness / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D011108:Polymers