Mesenchymal Stem Cells Isolated from the Anterior Cruciate Ligament: Characterization and Comparison of Cells from Young and Old Donors
- Author:
Patrick PRAGER
1
;
Manuela KUNZ
;
Regina EBERT
;
Ludger KLEIN-HITPASS
;
Jakob SIEKER
;
Thomas BARTHEL
;
Franz JAKOB
;
Christian KONRADS
;
Andre STEINERT
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Knee; Anterior cruciate ligament; Stem cell; Differentiation; Donor age
- MeSH: Anterior Cruciate Ligament; Arthroplasty; Cytoskeleton; Gene Expression; Humans; Knee; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells; Stem Cells; Tears; Tissue Donors
- From:The Journal of Korean Knee Society 2018;30(3):193-205
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: PURPOSE: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) share multiple characteristics of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs), allowing their use for regenerative therapies. Injuries to the ACL can affect people of all ages. This study assesses whether the regenerative potential of ACL-derived MSCs (ACL-MSCs) from old donors is as high as the potential of ACL-MSCs from young donors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ACL-MSCs were isolated from ACL tissues obtained from young and old donors at the time of ACL reconstruction or arthroplasty. Proliferative capacity, multilineage differentiation potential (chondrogenic, osteogenic, and adipogenic lineages), and transcriptome-wide gene expression were assessed and compared between young and old donors. BMSCs of middle-aged donors served as an additional comparator. RESULTS: No substantial differences between ACL-MSCs from young and old donors were observed in their proliferative capacity and multilineage differentiation potential. The latter did not substantially differ between both ACL-MSC groups and BMSCs. Differential expression of genes related to the cytoskeleton and to protein dephosphorylation amongst other pathways was detected between ACL-MSCs from young and old donors. CONCLUSIONS: Regenerative potential of ACL-MSCs from old donors was not substantially lower than that from young donors, suggesting that regenerative therapies of ACL tears are feasible in both age groups. In vivo studies of the effect of age on the efficacy of such therapies are needed.
