Promoting Effect of Basic Fibroblast Growth Factor in Synovial Mesenchymal Stem Cell-Based Cartilage Regeneration

• Published in: International journal of molecular sciences Vol. 22; no. 1; p. 300
• Main Authors: Okamura, Gensuke, Ebina, Kosuke, Hirao, Makoto, Chijimatsu, Ryota, Yonetani, Yasukazu, Etani, Yuki, Miyama, Akira, Takami, Kenji, Goshima, Atsushi, Yoshikawa, Hideki, Ishimoto, Takuya, Nakano, Takayoshi, Hamada, Masayuki, Kanamoto, Takashi, Nakata, Ken
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 30-12-2020; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; basic fibroblast growth factor; Biomarkers; Biomedical materials; Bone marrow; Cartilage; cartilage regeneration; Cartilage, Articular - physiology; Cell culture; Cell Differentiation; Cell Proliferation; Cells, Cultured; Chondrogenesis; Collagen; Culture media; Defects; Disease Models, Animal; Fibroblast growth factor 2; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 - metabolism; Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 - pharmacology; Fibroblasts; Gene Expression; Growth factors; Heterogeneity; Humans; Immunodeficiency; In vivo methods and tests; Joint Capsule - cytology; Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; Mesenchymal stem cells; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - cytology; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - drug effects; Mesenchymal Stem Cells - metabolism; Mice; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 3 - genetics; Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 3 - metabolism; Regeneration; Safranin-O; Spheroids, Cellular; Stem cells; Surgical implants; synovial mesenchymal stem cells; Vimentin; xenograft; cartilage regeneration; xenograft; synovial mesenchymal stem cells; basic fibroblast growth factor
• ISSN: 1422-0067; 1661-6596; 1422-0067
• DOI: 10.3390/ijms22010300

Synovial mesenchymal stem cell (SMSC) is the promising cell source of cartilage regeneration but has several issues to overcome such as limited cell proliferation and heterogeneity of cartilage regeneration ability. Previous reports demonstrated that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) can promote proliferation and cartilage differentiation potential of MSCs in vitro, although no reports show its beneficial effect in vivo. The purpose of this study is to investigate the promoting effect of bFGF on cartilage regeneration using human SMSC in vivo. SMSCs were cultured with or without bFGF in a growth medium, and 2 × 10
cells were aggregated to form a synovial pellet. Synovial pellets were implanted into osteochondral defects induced in the femoral trochlea of severe combined immunodeficient mice, and histological evaluation was performed after eight weeks. The presence of implanted SMSCs was confirmed by the observation of human vimentin immunostaining-positive cells. Interestingly, broad lacunae structures and cartilage substrate stained by Safranin-O were observed only in the bFGF (+) group. The bFGF (+) group had significantly higher O'Driscoll scores in the cartilage repair than the bFGF (-) group. The addition of bFGF to SMSC growth culture may be a useful treatment option to promote cartilage regeneration in vivo.