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Microcarrier bioreactor culture system promotes propagation of human intervertebral disc cells

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Abstract

Background

Cell-based tissue engineering has emerged as a potential therapy for intervertebral disc degeneration. However, propagating and maintaining high quantity and quality of the seed cells remains a challenge.

Aims

To investigate the feasibility of culturing human disc cells using a microcarrier bioreactor system.

Methods

Cell counts, growth patterns, cell cycles and cellular viability were examined during the course of cell cultivation and compared between the microcarrier bioreactor culture system and the conventional monolayer culture.

Results

Cultures in the microcarrier bioreactor resulted in enhanced disc cell growth and satisfactory cell viability in comparison with the conventional monolayer culture. The cells in the microcarrier bioreactor cultivation exhibited higher S phase ratios, elevated mitotic index and persistent exponential growth.

Conclusion

The microcarrier bioreactor culture system appears suitable for human disc cell propagation and may provide considerably more seeding cells for the tissue engineering process of intervertebral discs.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Nora Zacharias and Heath Edward Misak of Wichita State University for their critical reading and editing of the manuscript. This study was partially supported by the Shandong University, Jinan, China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopedic Department, Shandong University Affiliated Provincial Hospital, Jinan, China

    L. Zhang

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Jinan Central Hospital, Jinan, China

    B. Ning, T. Jia & W. Gong

  3. Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, China

    M. Cong & S.-Y. Yang

  4. Department of Spine and Spinal Cord, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine Affiliated Wuxi Hospital, 33 Hou Xi Xi Street, Wuxi, Jiangsu, China

    J.-F. Chen

  5. Department of Biological Sciences, Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, USA

    S.-Y. Yang

Authors
  1. L. Zhang
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  2. B. Ning
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  3. T. Jia
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  4. W. Gong
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  5. M. Cong
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  6. J.-F. Chen
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Correspondence to J.-F. Chen.

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Zhang, L., Ning, B., Jia, T. et al. Microcarrier bioreactor culture system promotes propagation of human intervertebral disc cells. Ir J Med Sci 179, 529–534 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-010-0537-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-010-0537-8

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