title: Mesenchymal stem cell spheroids exhibit enhanced in-vitro and in-vivo osteoregenerative potential.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a favored cell source for regenerative medicine because of their multilinage potential. However, the conventional monolayer technique used to culture MSCs, inadequately overcomes their low differentiation capacity. Culture of MSCs in multicellular spheroids, more accurately mimics the in-vivo microenvironment; thus, resolving this problem. In this study, we assessed whether the osteoregenerative potential of MSC spheroids is greater than that of monolayer MSCs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  MSC spheroids were generated from rat MSCs (rMSCs) using low-binding plates. Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunocytochemical analysis indicated that osteogenic properties were accelerated in MSC spheroids compared with monolayer rMSCs when treated with an osteoblast-inducer reagent for 7 days. Moreover, increased calcium deposition was visualized in MSC spheroids using Alizarin red staining. In a rat calvarial defect model, micro-computed tomography and histological assays showed that MSC spheroid-engrafted defects experienced enhanced bone regeneration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our in-vitro and in-vivo results reveal that MSCs in the spheroid culture exhibit enhanced osteoregenerative efficiency compared with monolayer MSCs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Section of Oral Implantology, Fukuoka Dental College, 2-15-1 Tamura, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, 814-0193, Japan. youdesu@college.fdcnet.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Morphological Biology, Section of Pathology, Fukuoka Dental College, 2-15-1 Tamura, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, 814-0193, Japan. johno@college.fdcnet.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ohno
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Section of Oral Implantology, Fukuoka Dental College, 2-15-1 Tamura, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, 814-0193, Japan. ayako@college.fdcnet.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ayako
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Rehabilitation, Section of Oral Implantology, Fukuoka Dental College, 2-15-1 Tamura, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, 814-0193, Japan. hkido@college.fdcnet.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kido
authors.affiliation: Center for Regenerative Medicine, Fukuoka Dental College, 2-15-1 Tamura, Sawara-ku, Fukuoka, 814-0193, Japan. tadaof@college.fdcnet.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Tadao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukushima
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001861:Bone Regeneration; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D008297:Male; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010012:Osteogenesis; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D018874:Spheroids, Cellular / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium