Resumen de Ingeniería del tejido cartilaginoso: aplicación de células troncales mesenquimales derivadas de tejido adiposo y médula ósea para su utilización en regeneración de tejido cartilaginoso

María Luisa González Fernández

• español

  Las patologías cartilaginosas han tenido una elevada incidencia en la población mundial, causando graves problemas clínicos y económicos. Dentro de las enfermedades que afectan al cartílago las más frecuentes y gravosas, son las que conllevan una degeneración del cartílago como la artrosis (osteoartritis) que es la responsable del 50% de las patologías crónicas en una población envejecida. El cartílago una vez lesionado tiene poca capacidad de reparación espontánea debido a la naturaleza avascular y alinfática de este tejido. En este contexto, la ingeniería del tejido cartilaginoso, pretende ser una solución para este problema intentando alcanzar un sustituto funcional. Este nuevo campo de la ciencia tiene como bases el uso combinado de células, biomateriales y factores bioactivos que permiten regenerar y reemplazar las funciones biológicas del cartílago dañado o degenerado

• English

  Cartilaginous pathologies have had a high incidence regarding world population, causing severe clinic and economic problems.

  Among the diseases that affect cartilage, we can find from congenital pathologies, traumatic which have rheumatism origin, neoplasia, etc.; but the most frequent and serious are those that result in a cartilage degeneration, such as osteoarthritis, arthritis and other pathologies related to age. Regarding all of them, it is estimated that only osteoarthritis is the responsible for 50% chronic pathologies among aged population.

  Tissue engineering is an emerging multidisciplinary science that is considered as a new area in the field of medicine and could be defined as “The art of tissue reconstruction, whether be structural or functional”. Once cartilage is injured, it has low capacity for natural repair due to avascular nature of the said tissue. In this context, cartilaginous tissue engineering intends to be a solution to that problem trying to reach a functional substitute. This new science field is based on cells combination use, biomaterials and bioactive factors that allow generating and replacing cartilage biological functions which have been damaged or degenerated.

  Regarding multiples cells that can be used for cartilaginous tissue engineering, we have decided to use mesenchymal stem cells obtained from adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) of rats and horses, and cells obtained from horse bone marrow (BM-MSCs).

  We observed that both, AT-MSCs and BM-MSCs turned to be a viable and promising alternative for its use in cartilaginous tissue engineering. We obtained a sufficient number of cells after several cultures and we observed that they became into a more homogenous and stable population. Cells were positive to CD29, CD73, CD90 and CD105, they increased their positive values to these markers after cryopreservation. These cells have multipotent capacity; they could differentiate in adipocytes, chondrocytes and osteocytes.

  Those two types of cells that have been studied, demonstated to be capable of producing cartilage in vitro expressed by cartilage indicators.

  AT-MSCs turned to be a very interesting alternative to BM-MSCs as source, due to its proliferation high capacity and obtaining simplicitity. They also demonstrate having a good proliferation and adhesion capacity to different biomaterials such as Hydrogel, Matrigel, OPLA and Zimmer.

  With the objective of going deeper in our study regarding cartilaginous tissue regeneration capacity, in concrete the meniscus, using a construction formed by a biomaterial (Zimmer®) and our mesenchymal stem cells; we used horses as animal model, due to its comparing capacity results to human clinic and its similarity between femoro-tibials articulations of both species. In vitro meniscus regeneration was demonstrated both macroscopic and microscopic, after 12 months.

  These results lead us to think that in the near future;

  cartilaginous tissue regeneration would be possible, improving these applicable techniques to a large number of clinic cases related to either veterinary or human medicine.