Stability of Cultured Osteoblasts on Calcium Phosphate Ceramics

Cultured osteoblasts with mineralized matrix (regenerative cultured bone; RCB) have been used for patients having osseous defects. The RCB can be fabricated on various ceramic substrata using patient’s mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) at our cell processing center (CPC). Since we have to transport the RCB for hospitals outside of our town, the RCB should maintain the cell viability for a long time. To determine a suitable condition for transportation of the RCB, stability of the RCB was analyzed by biochemical assays. Even outside CO2 incubator, the RCB kept high level of viability until 24 hours at 25°C and also showed low level of cytotoxicity for 24 hours at 37°C and 25°C. On the other hand, the RCB incubated for 24 hours at 4°C outside CO2 incubator resulted in extremely low level of viability with obvious cytotoxicity. These data indicated that stability of the RCB can be maintained for 24 hours at 37°C and 25°C, but not at 4°C. Therefore, the RCB derived from patient’s MSCs can be transported and utilized for the patients at hospitals far away from the CPC.