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Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy: Recent Progress

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2024 | Viewed by 4767

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
1. Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
2. Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Québec—Université Laval Research Centre, Québec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada
3. Centre de Recherche en Organogénèse Expérimentale de l’Université Laval/LOEX, Hôpital Enfant-Jésus, 1401 18e Rue, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
Interests: epithelial stem cells; tissue engineering; regenerative medicine; cell therapy; skin
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The clinical need to replace wounded, damaged or pathological tissues and organs has fostered the development of tissue engineering and cellular therapies. Innovative research on biomaterials, extracellular matrix and cells has resulted in tissue substitutes or cell products that are designed to improve, repair or replace several tissues and organs. This Special Issue will gather studies on the recent advances in this area. It will feature research that reports such progress, including fundamental studies on reconstructed tissues in vitro or translational studies and pre-clinical testing in vivo.

Prof. Dr. Lucie Germain
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • biomaterials and cell sources for tissue engineering and cell therapy
  • tissue engineering of substitutes in vitro
  • functional testing of tissues reconstructed in vitro
  • extracellular matrix
  • mechanical characteristics
  • biological and histological characterization
  • translational research

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 8149 KiB  
Article
Transcriptomic Analysis of Mineralized Adipose-Derived Stem Cell Tissues for Calcific Valve Disease Modelling
by Alyssa Brodeur, Vincent Roy, Lydia Touzel-Deschênes, Stéphanie Bianco, Arnaud Droit, Julie Fradette, Jean Ruel and François Gros-Louis
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2024, 25(4), 2291; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms25042291 - 14 Feb 2024
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Abstract
Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is characterized by the fibrosis and mineralization of the aortic valve, which leads to aortic stenosis and heart failure. At the cellular level, this is due to the osteoblastic-like differentiation of valve interstitial cells (VICs), resulting in the [...] Read more.
Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is characterized by the fibrosis and mineralization of the aortic valve, which leads to aortic stenosis and heart failure. At the cellular level, this is due to the osteoblastic-like differentiation of valve interstitial cells (VICs), resulting in the calcification of the tissue. Unfortunately, human VICs are not readily available to study CAVD pathogenesis and the implicated mechanisms in vitro; however, adipose-derived stromal/stem cells (ASCs), carrying the patient’s specific genomic features, have emerged as a promising cell source to model cardiovascular diseases due to their multipotent nature, availability, and patient-specific characteristics. In this study, we describe a comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of tissue-engineered, scaffold-free, ASC-embedded mineralized tissue sheets using bulk RNA sequencing. Bioinformatic and gene set enrichment analyses revealed the up-regulation of genes associated with the organization of the extracellular matrix (ECM), suggesting that the ECM could play a vital role in the enhanced mineralization observed in these tissue-engineered ASC-embedded sheets. Upon comparison with publicly available gene expression datasets from CAVD patients, striking similarities emerged regarding cardiovascular diseases and ECM functions, suggesting a potential link between ECM gene expression and CAVDs pathogenesis. A matrisome-related sub-analysis revealed the ECM microenvironment promotes the transcriptional activation of the master gene runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), which is essential in CAVD development. Tissue-engineered ASC-embedded sheets with enhanced mineralization could be a valuable tool for research and a promising avenue for the identification of more effective aortic valve replacement therapies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy: Recent Progress)
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15 pages, 4531 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Two Human Skin Cell Isolation Protocols and Their Influence on Keratinocyte and Fibroblast Culture
by Álvaro Sierra-Sánchez, Martin A. Barbier, Brice Magne, Danielle Larouche, Salvador Arias-Santiago and Lucie Germain
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(19), 14712; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241914712 - 28 Sep 2023
Viewed by 1546
Abstract
For the development of advanced therapies, the use of primary cells instead of cell lines is preferred. The manufacture of human tissue-engineered skin substitutes requires efficient isolation and culture protocols allowing a massive expansion of the cells in culture from an initial specimen [...] Read more.
For the development of advanced therapies, the use of primary cells instead of cell lines is preferred. The manufacture of human tissue-engineered skin substitutes requires efficient isolation and culture protocols allowing a massive expansion of the cells in culture from an initial specimen of a minimal size. This study compared two skin cell isolation protocols, routinely applied in two clinical laboratories. Epithelial (keratinocytes) and dermal (fibroblasts) cells were isolated and cultured from three human skin biopsies (N = 3). The two-step digestion protocol (LOEX-Protocol) firstly used thermolysin to enzymatically disrupt the dermal–epidermal junction while, for the one-step digestion protocol (UPCIT-Protocol), mechanical detachment with scissors was applied. Then, the epidermal and dermal layers were digested, respectively, to achieve cell isolation. The cell size, viability, yield and growth were analyzed over five passages (P). The colony-forming efficiency (CFE) and Keratin 19 (K19) expression of epithelial cells were also assessed after P0 and P1. Regarding the dermal cells, no significant differences were observed in the tested parameters of isolation and culture. However, for the epithelial cells, viability was higher (93% vs. 85%) and the number of cells extracted per cm2 of skin was 3.4 times higher using the LOEX-Protocol compared to the UPCIT-Protocol. No significant difference was observed for any parameter once the keratinocytes were cultured from P1 to P4. The CFE and K19 expression decreased from P0 to P1 in both protocols, probably due to the culture process. This study shows that both protocols enable the efficient isolation of skin dermal and epithelial cells and subsequent culture to produce grafts destined for the treatment of patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy: Recent Progress)
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16 pages, 8306 KiB  
Article
Production of Tissue-Engineered Skin Substitutes for Clinical Applications: Elimination of Serum
by Emilie J. Doucet, Sergio Cortez Ghio, Martin A. Barbier, Étienne Savard, Brice Magne, Meryem Safoine, Danielle Larouche, Julie Fradette and Lucie Germain
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(16), 12537; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241612537 - 08 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1792
Abstract
Tissue-engineered skin substitutes (TESs) are used as a treatment for severe burn injuries. Their production requires culturing both keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The methods to grow these cells have evolved over the years, but bovine serum is still commonly used in the culture medium. [...] Read more.
Tissue-engineered skin substitutes (TESs) are used as a treatment for severe burn injuries. Their production requires culturing both keratinocytes and fibroblasts. The methods to grow these cells have evolved over the years, but bovine serum is still commonly used in the culture medium. Because of the drawbacks associated with the use of serum, it would be advantageous to use serum-free media for the production of TESs. In a previous study, we developed a serum-free medium (Surge SFM) for the culture of keratinocytes. Herein, we tested the use of this medium, together with a commercially available serum-free medium for fibroblasts (Prime XV), to produce serum-free TESs. Our results show that serum-free TESs are macroscopically and histologically similar to skin substitutes produced with conventional serum-containing media. TESs produced with either culture media expressed keratin 14, Ki-67, transglutaminase 1, filaggrin, type I and IV collagen, and fibronectin comparably. Mechanical properties, such as contraction and tensile strength, were comparable between TESs cultured with and without serum. Serum-free TESs were also successfully grafted onto athymic mice for a six-month period. In conclusion, Surge SFM and Prime XV serum-free media could be used to produce high quality clinical-grade skin substitutes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Tissue Engineering and Cell Therapy: Recent Progress)
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