Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells-Derived Tissues are Mechanically Superior to Meniscus Cells'

OBJECTIVE Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) have the potential to form the mechanically responsive matrices of joint tissues including the menisci of the knee joint. The purpose of this study is to assess BMSC's potential to engineer meniscus-like tissue relative to meniscus fibrochondrocytes (MFC). METHODS MFC were isolated from castoffs of partial meniscectomy from non-osteoarthritic knees. BMSCs were developed from bone marrow aspirates of the iliac crest. All cells were of human origin. Cells were cultured in type I collagen scaffolds under normoxia (21% O2) for two weeks followed by hypoxia (3% O2) for three weeks. The structural and functional assessment of the generated meniscus constructs were based on glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content, histological appearance, gene expression, and mechanical properties. RESULTS The tissues formed by both cell types were histologically positive for Safranin-O stain and appeared more intense in the BMSC constructs. This observation was confirmed by a 2.7-fold higher GAG content. However, there was no significant difference in collagen I (COL1A2) expression in BMSC- and MFC-based constructs (p = 0.17). The expression of collagen II (COL2A1) and aggrecan (ACAN) were significantly higher in BMSCs than MFC (p≤0.05). Also, the gene expression of the hypertrophic marker collagen X (COL10A1) was 199-fold higher in BMSCs than MFC (p < 0.001). Moreover, relaxation moduli were significantly higher in BMSC-based constructs at 10%-20% strain step than MFC-based constructs. CONCLUSION BMSC-based constructs expressed higher COL2A1, ACAN, COL10A1, contained higher GAG content and exhibited higher relaxation moduli at 10-20% strain than MFC-based construct.