Papers by Author: Hiroko Machida

Abstract: Since 2001, we have started tissue engineered approach for hard tissue repair using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) derived from patient’s bone marrow. MSCs were culture expanded on culture dish, then applied on various ceramics including hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics. The MSCs on the ceramics were further cultured in osteogenic media to induce osteognenic differentiation. The differentiation resulted in appearance of bone forming osteoblasts as well as bone matrix on the ceramics, thus we could fabricate the tissue engineered bone. We have reported that the tissue engineered bone is effective for treatment of large bone defect, which is difficult to repair only with artificial materials such as HA ceramics. The present study focused on osteogenic capability of cryopreserved human MSCs derived from patients who already were treated by the tissue engineered bone. The MSCs showed high alkaline phosphatase activity together with abundant bone matrix formation when cultured in osteogenic media. The MSCs also showed in vivo new bone formation when implanted at subcutaneous sites of athymic nude rats. Based on the results, we concluded that the tissue engineering approach is a reliable method to be used in hard tissue regeneration.

Abstract: After culture expansion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from a few milliliter of fresh patient’s bone marrow, we applied the MSCs on alumina ceramic ankle prosthesis and further cultured in an osteogenic medium for 2 weeks. After the culture, the MSCs differentiated into osteoblasts, which fabricated bone matrix on the surface of ceramic prosthesis. The expansion of MSCs followed by osteogenic differentiation was done using the commercially available medium with some chemicals and patient’s own serum. The MSCs well proliferated and differentiated into osteoblasts, even the MSCs were from old aged (more than 70 years old) patients. The tissue engineered ceramic prostheses were implanted into osteoarthritic patients. Typical X-ray findings showed that radiodense areas began to appear around the cell-seeded areas on the prosthesis about 2 to 3 months after the operation. These findings confirmed the importance of tissue engineering approach for early bone fixation and the approach can be done using small number of bone marrow cells and patient’s own serum without adding animal-derived products.

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to estimate hard tissue formation in two types of porous columnar hydroxyapatite (HA) in order to use as a scaffold for regeneration of dentine-pulp complex. Hard tissue formation in the columnar HA scaffold with a hollow center was compared to that in the columnar HA scaffold without a hollow center. The scaffolds were immersed in hyaluronic acid sodium salt solution and were soaked in bone marrow cell suspension. They were respectively implanted into dorsal subcutis of rats for 4 weeks. Serially sectioned paraffin specimens were made and observed histologically. The scaffolds with a hollow center showed new hard tissue formation in many pores between the superficies and the wall of hollow. On the other hand, in the scaffolds without a hollow center, hard tissue formation was observed in only a few pores in the area near the external superficies. The results of this study suggested that the supply of nutrition and bioactive substance from the surrounding tissue were indispensable for differentiation of bone marrow cells and formation of new hard tissue in scaffold. A large contact area of a scaffold to the surrounding tissue may contribute to nutrition supply into the pores.

Abstract: Alumina ceramics have excellent mechanical and biocompatible properties, but are bioinert and hence have no bone-bonding properties. We took a tissue engineering approach in an attempt to modify the ceramic surface and so provide an osteogenic/osteoconductive milieu. We used fresh human bone marrow cells obtained from the iliac crest by needle aspiration for culture expansion of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) followed by in vitro osteogenic differentiation on both tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) and alumina ceramics. We have succeeded in expanding the number of MSC from all 35 cases and compared the differentiation capability of selected MSC on alumina ceramics to that on TCPS. The cells on both substrata showed extensive alkaline phosphatase staining and mineralization as evidenced by calcein uptake. Biochemical analyses revealed high levels of alkaline phosphatase activity, osteocalcin expression, and calcium content. These data indicate that an alumina ceramic surface can support a differentiation cascade of MSC resulting in osteoblastic phenotype expression of the cells. Based on these results, we have performed clinical applications of tissue engineered total joint replacements for osteoarthritic patients.