Project Description
Degenerative joint diseases due to rheumatism, joint dysplasia or traumata are especially widespread in countries with high life expectation. Today hyaline cartilage and bone defects resulting from joint destruction can be treated by appropriate transplantations.
Until now, procedures were developed utilising autologous chondrocytes from intact joint areas, which are expanded in cell culture and subsequently transplanted into the defect areas (Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation – ACT and Autologous Osteochondral Transplantation - OATS, respectively). The autologous, differentiated chondrocytes, however, showing low expansion capacity and synthesise an extracellular matrix (ECM) of minor functionality.
An alternative approach is the use of adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). These cells favourably expand in 2D culture and have the potential to differentiate into various cell types, amongst them osteoblast-like cells and chondrocyte-like cells. Furthermore, they offer the ability to synthesise a functional ECM as required for hyaline joint cartilage.
The aim of MS CartPro is to develop a closed, aseptic bioreactor for the production of autologous grafts for cartilage regeneration, i.e. the refilling of cartilage defects based on pre-differentiated MSCs. This bioreactor will be equipped with a non-invasive online monitoring system capable of characterising single cells with respect to differentiation without impairing them by using biomolecular markers. In this way, any molecular-biological changes caused by procedures using molecular markers can be avoided. The whole process is aimed at a donor-specific cultivation of autologous stem cells and high quality grafts.
In our multidimensional approach we develop:
- a closed, aseptic bioreactor for MSC-expansion and differentiation
- a sensor system for non-invasive online control on the single-cell level
- a bioinformatics model of MSC self-organisation for optimising donor-specific MSC cultivation protocols
Thereby, the acquired comprehensive data of MSC expansion and differentiation will successively be included in the bioinformatics model. Contrary, the bioinformatics model provides hypotheses for specific experiments and proposals for improved measurement and evaluation procedures.
The achievements of MS CartPro will be published and patented, respectively, and promptly brought to industrial and clinical application.
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