英国研究人员最近宣布，利用不同种类干细胞培育出的“人造骨骼”有不同性质，他们已探明多种“人造骨骼”的不同性质，这一成果将有利于提高骨骼移植的成功率。
英国帝国理工学院的研究人员在新一期《自然·材料》杂志上报告说，科学界已能利用多种干细胞培育出类似骨骼的物质，但是这些“人造骨骼”在性质上具有较大区别。
借助激光光谱仪和电子显微镜等设备，研究人员发现，利用实验鼠骨髓干细胞和头骨干细胞培育出的“人造骨骼”在硬度等方面最接近真实骨骼的性质。但利用实验鼠胚胎干细胞培育出的“人造骨骼”的硬度就要小很多，并且在化学成分上也相对更为简单。
研究人员说，许多病人需要移植骨骼，如果能选择与移植部位原有骨骼性质最为相似的“人造骨骼”，那么移植成功的可能性就会大很多。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature Materials 26 July 2009 | doi:10.1038/nmat2505
Comparative materials differences revealed in engineered bone as a function of cell-specific differentiation
Eileen Gentleman1,2, Robin J. Swain1, Nicholas D. Evans1,2, Suwimon Boonrungsiman1,2, Gavin Jell1,2, Michael D. Ball1,2, Tamaryn A. V. Shean3, Michelle L. Oyen3, Alexandra Porter1 & Molly M. Stevens1,2
An important aim of regenerative medicine is to restore tissue function with implantable, laboratory-grown constructs that contain tissue-specific cells that replicate the function of their counterparts in the healthy native tissue. It remains unclear, however, whether cells used in bone regeneration applications produce a material that mimics the structural and compositional complexity of native bone. By applying multivariate analysis techniques to micro-Raman spectra of mineralized nodules formed in vitro, we reveal cell-source-dependent differences in interactions between multiple bone-like mineral environments. Although osteoblasts and adult stem cells exhibited bone-specific biological activities and created a material with many of the hallmarks of native bone, the 'bone nodules' formed from embryonic stem cells were an order of magnitude less stiff, and lacked the distinctive nanolevel architecture and complex biomolecular and mineral composition noted in the native tissue. Understanding the biological mechanisms of bone formation in vitro that contribute to cell-source-specific materials differences may facilitate the development of clinically successful engineered bone.
1 Department of Materials, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
2 Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK
3 Cambridge University Engineering Department, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK
