Meniscus reconstruction through coculturing meniscus cells with synovium-derived stem cells on small intestine submucosa--a pilot study to engineer meniscus tissue constructs.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of coculturing meniscus cells (MCs) and synovium-derived stem cells (SDSCs) on small intestine submucosa (SIS) to establish an innovative method to engineer in vitro meniscus constructs. About 0.9 million cells (MCs, prelabeled SDSCs [with Vybrant DiI], and a coculture of MCs and prelabeled SDSCs [50:50]) were mixed with fibrin gel and seeded onto freeze-dried SIS discs (5 mm diameter x 1-2 mm thickness) individually. The tissue constructs were incubated in a serum-free defined medium supplemented with 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor beta-1 and 500 ng/mL insulin-like growth factor I for 1 month. One day after cell seeding, samples for scanning electron microscopy were prepared to evaluate cell attachment on the SIS surface. During incubation, fluorescent microscopy was used to trace cell migration (with 4',6-diamidino-2-phenylindole as a counterstain) on SIS scaffold. The tissue constructs were assessed using histology, immunostaining, biochemical analysis, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and compressive modulus. All three groups of cells attached well on SIS. The coculture with SDSCs yielded MC-based tissue constructs with greater cell survival and differentiation into chondrogenic phenotypes, which exhibited higher glycosaminoglycan, collagen II, and Sox 9 but relatively low collagen I, resulting in the concomitant increase in equilibrium modulus. This pilot study demonstrates the advantages of coculturing MCs with SDSCs on SIS for meniscus tissue engineering and regeneration.