2007   Volume No 14 – pages 78-91

In vitro comparison of human fibroblasts from intact and ruptured ACL for use in tissue engineering

Authors: T Brune, A Borel, TW Gilbert, JP Franceschi, SF Badylak, P Sommer

Address: Institut de Biologie et Chimie des Protéines, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France

E-mail: thierry_brune@yahoo.fr

Key Words: Tissue engineering, anterior cruciate ligament, extracted fibroblasts, small intestinal submucosa scaffold, integrins, elastic network, in vitro models.

Publication date: December 17th 2007

Abstract: The present study compares fibroblasts extracted from intact and ruptured human anterior cruciate ligaments (ACL) for creation of a tissue engineered ACL-construct, made of porcine small intestinal submucosal extracellular matrix (SIS-ECM) seeded with these ACL cells. The comparison is based on histological, immunohistochemical and RT-PCR analyses. Differences were observed between cells in a ruptured ACL (rACL) and cells in an intact ACL (iACL), particularly with regard to the expression of integrin subunits and smooth muscle actin (SMA). Despite these differences in the cell source, both cell populations behaved similarly when seeded on an SIS-ECM scaffold, with similar cell morphology, connective tissue organization and composition, SMA and integrin expression. This study shows the usefulness of naturally occurring scaffolds such as SIS-ECM for the study of cell behaviour in vitro, and illustrates the possibility to use autologous cells extracted from ruptured ACL biopsies as a source for tissue engineered ACL constructs.

Article download: Pages 78-91 (PDF file)