Received November 2008; received in revised form June 2009; accepted June 2009.
Refers to article:
Editor's Summary and Q&A: Engineered cartilage heals skull defects
Lan Doan, Connor Kelley, Heather Luong, Jeryl English, Hector Gomez, Evan Johnson, Dianna Cody, Pauline Jackie Duke
American Journal of Orthodontics & Dentofacial Orthopedics
February 2010 (Vol. 137, Issue 2, Pages 162-163) Abstract |
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Introduction
The purposes of this study were to differentiate embryonic limb bud cells into cartilage, characterize the nodules produced, and determine their ability to heal a mouse skull defect.
Methods
Aggregated mouse limb bud cells (E12-E12.5), cultured in a bioreactor for 3 weeks, were analyzed by histology or implanted in 6 skull defects. Six controls had no implants. The mice were scanned with microcomputed tomography weekly. At 2 and 4 weeks, a mouse from each group was killed, and the defect region was prepared for histology.
Results
Chondrocytes in nodules were mainly hypertrophic. About 90% of the nodules mineralized. BrdU staining showed dividing cells in the perichondrium. Microcomputed tomography scans showed increasing minerals in implanted nodules that completely filled the defect by 6 weeks; defects in the control mice were not healed by then. At 2 and 4 weeks, the control skull sections showed only a thin bony layer over the defect. At 2 weeks, bone and cartilage filled the defects with implants, and the implants were well integrated with the adjacent cortical bone. At 4 weeks, the implant had turned almost entirely into bone.
Conclusions
Cartilage differentiated in the bioreactor and facilitated healing when implanted into a defect. Engineering cartilage to replace bone is an alternative to current methods of bone grafting.
bDental student, Department of Orthodontics, Dental Branch, University of Texas, Houston, Tex
cProfessor and chairman, Department of Orthodontics, Dental Branch, University of Texas, Houston, Tex
dSenior Imaging Research Technician, Department of Imaging Physics, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Tex
eProfessor, Department of Imaging Physics, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Houston, Tex
fProfessor, Department of Orthodontics, Dental Branch, University of Texas, Houston, Tex
Reprint requests to: Pauline Jackie Duke, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Dental Branch, Department of Orthodontics, 6516 M.D. Anderson Blvd, Houston, TX 77030.
The authors report no commercial, proprietary, or financial interest in the products or companies described in this article.
Supported by the University of Texas Biotechnology Office, NIH T32DE015355, and Cancer Center Support Grant16672--DC.
ABSTRACT