Studies conducted at Kyoto University on stem cell research recently published
2007 NOV 19 -- "The objective of this study was to investigate the feasibility of collagen sponges mechanically reinforced by the incorporation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fibers in stem cell culture. A collagen solution with homogeneously dispersed PET fibers was freeze-dried, followed by dehydrothermal cross-linking to obtain the collagen sponge incorporating PET fibers," investigators in Kyoto, Japan report. "By scanning electron microscopy observation, the collagen sponges exhibited isotropic and interconnected pore structures with an average size of 200 mu m, irrespective of PET fiber incorporation. As expected, PET fibers incorporation significantly enhanced the compression strength of collagen sponge. When used for rat mesenchymal stem cells (MSC), the collagen sponge incorporating PET fibers was superior to the original collagen sponge without PET fibers incorporation in terms of the initial attachment, proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of cells, irrespective of the amount and diameter of fibers incorporated. The shrinkage of sponges during cell culture was significantly suppressed by the fiber incorporation," wrote T. Takamoto and colleagues, Kyoto University. The researchers concluded: "It is possible that the shrinkage suppression maintains the three-dimensional inner pore structure of collagen sponges without impairing the cell compatibility, resulting in the superior MSC attachment and the subsequent osteogenic differentiation in the sponge incorporating PET fiber." Takamoto and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Biomaterials Science - Polymer Edition (Enhanced proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of rat mesenchymal stem cells in collagen sponge reinforced with different poly(Ethylene terephthalate) fibers. Journal of Biomaterials Science - Polymer Edition, 2007;18(7):865-881). For additional information, contact Y. Tabata, Kyoto University, Dept. of Biomaterials, Institute Frontier Med Science, Field Tissue Engineering, Sakyo Ku, 53 Kawara Cho, Kyoto 6068507, Japan. The publisher of the Journal of Biomaterials Science - Polymer Edition can be contacted at: VSP BV, Brill Academic Publishers, PO Box 9000, 2300 PA Leiden, Netherlands. Keywords: Japan, Kyoto, Stem Cell Research, Kyoto University. This article was prepared by Stem Cell Week editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2007, Stem Cell Week via NewsRx.com.
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