Abstract

Minipigs are a recommended large animal model for preclinical testing of human orthopedic implants. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are the key repair cells in bone healing and implant osseointegration, but the osteogenic capacity of minipig MSCs is incompletely known. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize minipig bone marrow (BM) and peripheral blood (PB) MSCs in comparison to human BM-MSCs. BM sample was aspirated from posterior iliac crest of five male Göttingen minipigs (age 15 ± 1 months). PB sample was drawn for isolation of circulating MSCs. MSCs were selected by plastic-adherence as originally described by Friedenstein. Cell morphology, colony formation, proliferation, surface marker expression, and differentiation were examined. Human BM-MSCs were isolated and cultured from adult fracture patients (n = 13, age 19-60 years) using identical techniques. MSCs were found in all minipig BM samples, but no circulating MSCs could be detected. Minipig BM-MSCs had similar morphology, proliferation, and colony formation capacities as human BM-MSCs. Unexpectedly, minipig BM-MSCs had a significantly lower ability than human BM-MSCs to form differentiated and functional osteoblasts. This observation emphasizes the need for species-specific optimization of MSC culture protocol before direct systematic comparison of MSCs between human and various preclinical large animal models can be made.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors

Heino TJ, Alm JJ, Moritz N, Aro HT

Institution

Orthopaedic Research Unit, University of Turku, Turku, Finland. terhi.j.heino@utu.fi

Source

Journal of orthopaedic research : official publication of the Orthopaedic Research Society 30:7 2012 Jul pg 1019-25

MeSH

Adipocytes
Adolescent
Adult
Animals
Biological Markers
Bone Marrow Cells
Cell Adhesion
Cell Culture Techniques
Cell Differentiation
Cryopreservation
Female
Humans
Male
Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Middle Aged
Osteoblasts
Osteogenesis
Plastics
Species Specificity
Swine
Swine, Miniature
Young Adult

Pub Type(s)

Comparative Study
Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Language

eng

PubMed ID

22570220