Ovine Mesenchymal Stromal Cells: Morphologic, Phenotypic and Functional Characterization for Osteochondral Tissue Engineering.

Introduction: Knowledge of ovine mesenchymal stromal cells (oMSCs) is currently expanding. Tissue engineering combining scaffolding with oMSCs provides promising therapies for the treatment of osteochondral diseases.

Purpose: The aim was to isolate and characterize oMSCs from bone marrow aspirates (oBMSCs) and to assess their usefulness for osteochondral repair using β-tricalcium phosphate (bTCP) and type I collagen (Col I) scaffolds.