Baculovirus-transduced, VEGF-expressing adipose-derived stem cell sheet for the treatment of myocardium infarction.

Cell sheet technology has been widely employed for the treatment of myocardial infarction (MI), but cell sheet fabrication generally requires the use of thermo-responsive dishes. Here we developed a method for the preparation of adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) sheet that obviated the need of thermo-responsive dishes. This method only required the seeding of rabbit ASC onto 6-well plates at an appropriate cell density and culture in appropriate medium, and the cells were able to develop into ASC sheet in 2 days.

Regenerating cartilages by engineered ASCs: prolonged TGF-β3/BMP-6 expression improved articular cartilage formation and restored zonal structure.

Adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) hold promise for cartilage regeneration but their chondrogenesis potential is inferior. Here, we used a baculovirus (BV) system that exploited FLPo/Frt-mediated transgene recombination and episomal minicircle formation to genetically engineer rabbit ASCs (rASCs). The BV system conferred prolonged and robust TGF-β3/BMP-6 expression in rASCs cultured in porous scaffolds, which critically augmented rASCs chondrogenesis and suppressed osteogenesis/hypertrophy, leading to the formation of cartilaginous constructs with improved maturity and mechanical properties in 2-week culture.