Beta-tricalcium phosphate ceramic triggers fast and robust bone formation by human mesenchymal stem cells.

Due to their osteoconductive and inductive properties, a variety of calcium phosphate (CaP) scaffolds are commonly used in orthopaedics as graft material to heal bone defects. In this study, we have used two CaP scaffolds with different hydroxyapatite (HA) and β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) ratios (MBCP®; 60/40 and MBCP ®; 20/80) to investigate their intrinsic capacity to favour human bone marrow stem cells (hBMSCs) osteogenic differentiation capacity. We report that MBCP ® showed in in vitro culture model a higher rate of calcium ion release in comparison with MBCP®.

Dual effect of platelet lysate on human articular cartilage: a maintenance of chondrogenic potential and a transient proinflammatory activity followed by an inflammation resolution.

Platelet-rich plasma (PRP), a cocktail of platelet growth factors and bioactive proteins, has been proposed as a therapeutic agent to restore damaged articular cartilage. We report the biological effect of the platelet lysate (PL), a PRP derivative, on primary human articular chondrocytes cultured under both physiological and inflammatory conditions. When added to the culture medium, PL induced a strong mitogenic response in the chondrocytes.

Recruitment of host's progenitor cells to sites of human amniotic fluid stem cells implantation.

The amniotic fluid is a new source of multipotent stem cells with a therapeutic potential for human diseases. Cultured at low cell density, human amniotic fluid stem cells (hAFSCs) were still able to generate colony-forming unit-fibroblast (CFU-F) after 60 doublings, thus confirming their staminal nature. Moreover, after extensive in vitro cell expansion hAFSCs maintained a stable karyotype.