title: Interactions of human endothelial and multipotent mesenchymal stem cells in cocultures.
abstract: Current strategies for tissue engineering of bone rely on the implantation of scaffolds, colonized with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC), into a recipient. A major limitation is the lack of blood vessels. One approach to enhance the scaffold vascularisation is to supply the scaffolds with endothelial cells (EC).The main goal of this study was to establish a coculture system of hMSC and EC for the purposes of bone tissue engineering. Therefore, the cell behaviour, proliferation and differentiation capacity in various cell culture media as well as cell interactions in the cocultures were evaluated.The differentiation capacity of hMSC along osteogenic, chondrogenic, and adipogenic lineage was impaired in EC medium while in a mixed EC and hMSC media, hMSC maintained osteogenic differentiation. In order to identify and trace EC in the cocultures, EC were transduced with eGFP. Using time-lapse imaging, we observed that hMSC and EC actively migrated towards cells of their own type and formed separate clusters in long term cocultures. The scarcity of hMSC and EC contacts in the cocultures suggest the influence of growth factor-mediated cell interactions and points to the necessity of further optimization of the coculture conditions.
authors.affiliation: Experimental Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Surgery, University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ern
authors.forename: Vera
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krump-Konvalinkova
authors.forename: Denitsa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Docheva
authors.forename: Stefanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schindler
authors.forename: Oliver
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rossmann
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Böcker
authors.forename: Wolf
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mutschler
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schieker