La rivista dell'American Chemical Society "Applied Materials & Interfaces" ha pubblicato la ricerca dal titolo: "Polypeptide Thermogels as a Three Dimensional Culture Scaffold for Hepatogenic Differentiation of Human Tonsil-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells" .
L'équipe coreana di ricercatori della National Research Foundation , Seung-Jin Kim, Min Hee Park, Hyo Jung Moon, Jin Hye Park, Du Young Ko, Byeongmoon Jeong, ha messo a punto una tecnica per estrarre cellule staminali dal tessuto delle tonsille,- che , solitamente , quando vengono rimosse sono gettate tra i rifiuti speciali.
I ricercatori hanno incapsulato le cellule staminali delle tonsille in un liquido termosensibile che, esposto alla temperatura corporea (circa 37°C), si trasforma in un gel. Hanno poi aggiunto al composto alcuni fattori di crescita per stimolare le cellule staminali a trasformarsi in cellule epatiche.
Il risultato è stato un gel biodegradabile che contiene cellule del fegato funzionanti.
I ricercatori si augurano che lo stesso processo possa diventare presto una tecnica di ingegneria tissutale utile per il trattamento delle malattie del fegato, senza necessità di intervento chirurgico.
Trapianto epatico addio ?
ENGLISH VERSION :
Polypeptide Thermogels as a Three Dimensional Culture Scaffold for Hepatogenic Differentiation of Human Tonsil-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Seung-Jin Kim , Min Hee Park , Hyo Jung Moon , Jin Hye Park , Du Young Ko , and Byeongmoon Jeong *Department of Chemistry and Nano Science, Ewha Womans University, Global Top 5 Research Program, 52 Ewhayeodae-gil, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, 120-750, Korea
Tonsil-derived mesenchymal stem cells (TMSCs) were investigated for hepatogenic differentiation in the 3D matrixes of poly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(l-alanine) (PEG-L-PA) thermogel. The diblock polymer formed β-sheet based fibrous nanoassemblies in water, and the aqueous polymer solution undergoes sol-to-gel transition as the temperature increases in a concentration range of 5.0–8.0 wt %. The cell-encapsulated 3D matrix was prepared by increasing the temperature of the cell-suspended PEG-L-PA aqueous solution (6.0 wt %) to 37 °C. The gel modulus at 37 °C was about 1000 Pa, which was similar to that of decellularized liver tissue. Cell proliferation, changes in cell morphology, hepatogenic biomarker expressions, and hepatocyte-specific biofunctions were compared for the following 3D culture systems: TMSC-encapsulated thermogels in the absence of hepatogenic growth factors (protocol M), TMSC-encapsulated thermogels where hepatogenic growth factors were supplied from the medium (protocol MGF), and TMSC-encapsulated thermogels where hepatogenic growth factors were coencapsulated with TMSCs during the sol-to-gel transition (protocol GGF). The spherical morphology and size of the encapsulated cells were maintained in the M system during the 3D culture period of 28 days, whereas the cells changed their morphology and significant aggregation of cells was observed in the MGF and GGF systems. The hepatocyte-specific biomarker expressions and metabolic functions were negligible for the M system. However, hepatogenic genes of albumin, cytokeratin 18 (CK-18), and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF 4α) were significantly expressed in both MGF and GGF systems. In addition, production of albumin and α-fetoprotein was also significantly observed in both MGF and GGF systems. The uptake of cardiogreen and low-density lipoprotein, typical metabolic functions of hepatocytes, was apparent for MGF and GGF. The above data indicate that the 3D culture system of PEG-L-PA thermogels provides cytocompatible microenvironments for hepatogenic differentiation of TMSCs. In particular, the successful results of the GGF system suggest that the PEG-L-PA thermogel can be a promising injectable tissue engineering system for liver tissue regeneration after optimizing the aqueous formulation of TMSCs, hepatogenic growth factors, and other biochemicals.
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Article ASAP DOI: 10.1021/am504652y
Publication Date (Web): September 5, 2014 Copyright © 2014 American Chemical Society |
