Characterization of a migrative subpopulation of adult human nasoseptal chondrocytes with progenitor cell features and their potential for in vivo cartilage regeneration strategies.

A F Elsaesser,L Koerber,S Schwarz,R E Brenner,N Rotter,H Joos

doi:10.1186/s13578-016-0078-6

Abstract

BackgroundProgenitor cells display interesting features for tissue repair and reconstruction. In the last years, such cells have been identified in different cartilage types. In this study, we isolated a migrative subpopulation of adult human nasoseptal chondrocytes with progenitor cell features by outgrowth from human nasal septum cartilage. These putative progenitor cells were comparatively characterized with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and human nasal septum chondrocytes with respect to their cellular characteristics as well as surface marker profile using flow cytometric analyses. Differentiation capacity was evaluated on protein and gene expression levels.ResultsThe migrative subpopulation differentiated into osteogenic and chondrogenic lineages with distinct differences to chondrocytes and MSC. Cells of the migrative subpopulation showed an intermediate surface marker profile positioned between MSC and chondrocytes. Significant differences were found for CD9, CD29, CD44, CD90, CD105 and CD106. The cells possessed a high migratory ability in a Boyden chamber assay and responded to chemotactic stimulation. To evaluate their potential use in tissue engineering applications, a decellularized septal cartilage matrix was either seeded with cells from the migrative subpopulation or chondrocytes. Matrix production was demonstrated immunohistochemically and verified on gene expression level. Along with secretion of matrix metalloproteinases, cells of the migrative subpopulation migrated faster into the collagen matrix than chondrocytes, while synthesis of cartilage specific matrix was comparable.ConclusionsCells of the migrative subpopulation, due to their migratory characteristics, are a potential cell source for in vivo regeneration of nasal cartilage. The in vivo mobilization of nasal cartilage progenitor cells is envisioned to be the basis for in situ tissue engineering procedures, aiming at the use of unseeded biomaterials which are able to recruit local progenitor cells for cartilage regeneration.

Highlights

Progenitor cells display interesting features for tissue repair and reconstruction
The active migration was used as a selection criterion to yield migratory chondrocytes with progenitor cell features (mnCPC)
MnCPC showed a comparable cell morphology, they did not lose their shape to the same extent (Fig. 1e)

Summary

Introduction

Progenitor cells display interesting features for tissue repair and reconstruction. In the last years, such cells have been identified in different cartilage types. We isolated a migrative subpopulation of adult human nasoseptal chondrocytes with progenitor cell features by outgrowth from human nasal septum cartilage. In nasal reconstructive surgery nasal septal cartilage is preferred as tissue source when available owing to several important advantages such as suitable mechanical characteristics compared to e.g. costal and auricular cartilage [9]. These conventional reconstructions often involve additional surgical procedures which can be complicated by wound infections, insufficient cosmetic results and postoperative pain at the donor site. The choice of the appropriate cell type for cell based tissue engineering strategies is a critical step as chondrocytes are differentiated and highly specialized cells responsible for the production of biomechanically appropriate extracellular matrix (ECM) of cartilage

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion