Bio-artificial pleura using autologous dermal fibroblast sheets to mitigate air leaks during thoracoscopic lung resection.

Lung air leaks (LALs) due to visceral pleura injury during surgery are a difficult-to-avoid complication in thoracic surgery (TS). Reliable LAL closure is an important patient management issue after TS. We demonstrated both safeties of transplantation of a cultured human autologous dermal fibroblast sheet (DFS) to LALs.

Bio-artificial pleura using an autologous dermal fibroblast sheet.

Air leaks (ALs) are observed after pulmonary resections, and without proper treatment, can produce severe complications. AL prevention is a critical objective for managing patients after pulmonary resection. This study applied autologous dermal fibroblast sheets (DFS) to close ALs.

Platelet-activated serum might have a therapeutic effect on damaged articular cartilage.

Platelet-activated serum (PAS) was collected from rabbits. This contains high concentrations of growth factors, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB, and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β). PAS was injected into the knee joints of Japanese White rabbits subjected to anterior cruciate ligament transection (ACL-T) to investigate its therapeutic effects on articular cartilage.

Characterization of layered chondrocyte sheets created in a co-culture system with synoviocytes in a hypoxic environment.

Endeavouring to repair and regenerate articular cartilage using cell sheets, we have previously established a co-culture system of chondrocytes and synoviocytes, and have reported the successful and rapid production of chondrocyte sheets. In the present study, to examine the effects of oxygen concentration on the chondrocyte sheets, we co-cultured human articular chondrocytes and human synoviocytes in 2%, 5% and 21% oxygen, and measured chondrocyte metabolic activity and proliferation activities under each condition for 14 days in culture. Layered chondrocyte sheets were also created under each condition and the proteoglycan (PG) level was compared with the gene expression of type I collagen (COL1), COL2, COL27, tissue metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP1), fibronectin-1 (FN1), SRY-related HMG Box 9 (SOX9), aggrecan-1 (ACAN), integrin-α10 (ITGα10), matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3), MMP13 and a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motif 5 (ADAMTS5).

Assessment of the Safety of Chondrocyte Sheet Implantation for Cartilage Regeneration.

We have previously studied the effects of chondrocyte sheets on the repair and regeneration of articular cartilage by using temperature-responsive culture inserts. On the basis of this work, we succeeded in rapid fabrication of chondrocyte sheets with the use of a coculture method in which inserts were placed between synoviocytes and chondrocytes. Treatment of cartilage defects using layered chondrocyte sheets promotes repair and regeneration; this method is compatible with in vivo osteoarthritis models that reproduce partial-thickness defects.

In vivo cell tracking by bioluminescence imaging after transplantation of bioengineered cell sheets to the knee joint.

In our previous studies, we have demonstrated effective regeneration of cartilage through the creation and application of layered cell sheets that combine both chondrocytes and synovial cells. In this study, we were able to demonstrate that cells derived from cell sheets can survive for long periods after transplantation into rat knee joints having osteochondral defects. We established a method for generating cell sheets from firefly luciferase-expressing chondrocytes obtained from transgenic Lewis rats, and carried out allogenic transplantation of these cell sheets into wild-type Lewis rats.

Potential utility of cell sheets derived from the anterior cruciate ligament and synovium fabricated in temperature-responsive culture dishes.

Development of tissue-engineered materials to treat anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury has been limited by the lack of phenotypic markers. We investigated the feasibility of inducing ACL regeneration using cell sheet technology based on the expression of tenomodulin (TNMD) as an early phenotypic marker of ligaments. ACL remnants, the synovium surrounding cruciate ligaments (SCL), the synovium surrounding the infrapatellar fat pads (SIF), and subcutaneous fat tissue (SCF) were obtained from patients undergoing ACL reconstruction or total knee arthroplasty.

Development of a novel vitrification method for chondrocyte sheets.

Background: There is considerable interest in using cell sheets for the treatment of various lesions as part of regenerative medicine therapy. Cell sheets can be prepared in temperature-responsive culture dishes and applied to injured tissue. For example, cartilage-derived cell sheets are currently under preclinical testing for use in treatment of knee cartilage injuries.

Characterization of chondrocyte sheets prepared using a co-culture method with temperature-responsive culture inserts.

Conventional culture methods using temperature-responsive culture dishes require 4-5 weeks to prepare layered chondrocyte sheets that can be used in articular cartilage repair and regeneration. This study investigated whether the use of synovial tissue obtained from the same joint as the chondrocyte nutritive supply source could more quickly facilitate the preparation of chondrocyte sheets. After culturing derived synoviocytes and chondrocytes together (i.

Repair of articular cartilage defect with layered chondrocyte sheets and cultured synovial cells.

In this study, we investigate the effects of treatment with layered chondrocyte sheets and synovial cell transplantation. An osteochondral defect was created of 48 Japanese white rabbits. In order to determine the effects of treatment, the following 6 groups were produced: (A) synovial cells (1.

Cartilage repair in transplanted scaffold-free chondrocyte sheets using a minipig model.

Lacking a blood supply and having a low cellular density, articular cartilage has a minimal ability for self-repair. Therefore, wide-ranging cartilage damage rarely resolves spontaneously. Cartilage damage is typically treated by chondrocyte transplantation, mosaicplasty or microfracture.

Intravenous administration of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor humanized monoclonal antibody bevacizumab improves articular cartilage repair.

Introduction: In this study, we investigate the efficacy of repairing an osteochondral defect in rabbit knee joints by administering bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) antibody.

Methods: An osteochondral defect was created on the patellar groove of 20 Japanese white rabbits that were classified into two recipient groups: group B, administration of bevacizumab (100-mg intravenous injection on the day of surgery and 2 weeks later), and a control group (defect only). Rabbits were killed 1 and 3 months postoperatively.

Jellyfish mucin may have potential disease-modifying effects on osteoarthritis.

Background: We aimed to study the effects of intra-articular injection of jellyfish mucin (qniumucin) on articular cartilage degeneration in a model of osteoarthritis (OA) created in rabbit knees by resection of the anterior cruciate ligament. Qniumucin was extracted from Aurelia aurita (moon jellyfish) and Stomolophus nomurai (Nomura's jellyfish) and purified by ion exchange chromatography. The OA model used 36 knees in 18 Japanese white rabbits.

The properties of bioengineered chondrocyte sheets for cartilage regeneration.

Background: Although the clinical results of autologous chondrocyte implantation for articular cartilage defects have recently improved as a result of advanced techniques based on tissue engineering procedures, problems with cell handling and scaffold imperfections remain to be solved. A new cell-sheet technique has been developed, and is potentially able to overcome these obstacles. Chondrocyte sheets applicable to cartilage regeneration can be prepared with this cell-sheet technique using temperature-responsive culture dishes.

Recent technological advancements related to articular cartilage regeneration.

Some treatments for full thickness defects of the articular cartilage, such as the transplantation of cultured chondrocytes have already been performed. However, in order to overcome osteoarthritis, we must further study the partial thickness defects of articular cartilage. It is much more difficult to repair a partial thickness defect because few repair cells can address such injured sites.