Fiber development and matrix production in tissue-engineered menisci using bovine mesenchymal stem cells and fibrochondrocytes.

ABSTRACT: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been investigated with promising results for meniscus healing and tissue engineering. While MSCs are known to contribute to extracellular matrix (ECM) production, less is known about how MSCs produce and align large organized fibers for application to tissue engineering the meniscus. The goal of this study was to investigate the capability of MSCs to produce and organize ECM molecules compared to meniscal fibrochondrocytes (FCCs). Bovine FCCs and MSCs were encapsulated in an anatomically accurate collagen meniscus using monoculture and co-culture of each cell type. Each meniscus was mechanically anchored at the horns to mimic the physiological fixation by the meniscal entheses. Mechanical fixation generates a static mechanical boundary condition previousl

SUBMITTER: McCorry MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5709035 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May - Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature