title: Cartilage repair in transplanted scaffold-free chondrocyte sheets using a minipig model.
abstract: Lacking a blood supply and having a low cellular density, articular cartilage has a minimal ability for self-repair. Therefore, wide-ranging cartilage damage rarely resolves spontaneously. Cartilage damage is typically treated by chondrocyte transplantation, mosaicplasty or microfracture. Recent advances in tissue engineering have prompted research on techniques to repair articular cartilage damage using a variety of transplanted cells. We studied the repair and regeneration of cartilage damage using layered chondrocyte sheets prepared on a temperature-responsive culture dish. We previously reported achieving robust tissue repair when covering only the surface layer with layered chondrocyte sheets when researching partial-thickness defects in the articular cartilage of domestic rabbits. The present study was an experiment on the repair and regeneration of articular cartilage in a minipig model of full-thickness defects. Good safranin-O staining and integration with surrounding tissues was achieved in animals transplanted with layered chondrocyte sheets. However, tissue having poor safranin-O staining-not noted in the domestic rabbit experiments-was identified in some of the animals, and the subchondral bone was poorly repaired in these. Thus, although layered chondrocyte sheets facilitate articular cartilage repair, further investigations into appropriate animal models and culture and transplant conditions are required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Surgical Science, Tokai University School of Medicine, 143 Shimokasuya, Isehara, Kanagawa 259-1193, Japan.
authors.forename: Goro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ebihara
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamato
authors.forename: Genya
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mitani
authors.forename: Toshiharu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kutsuna
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Satoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ukai
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Mami
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kokubo
authors.forename: Teruo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okano
authors.forename: Joji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mochida
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000473:pathology*; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000473:pathology / Q000637:transplantation*; D023421:Models, Animal; D011817:Rabbits; D013552:Swine; D013556:Swine, Miniature / Q000502:physiology*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014945:Wound Healing