Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Stem Cells. Feb 26, 2024; 16(2): 176-190
Published online Feb 26, 2024. doi: 10.4252/wjsc.v16.i2.176
High quality repair of osteochondral defects in rats using the extracellular matrix of antler stem cells
Yu-Su Wang, Wen-Hui Chu, Jing-Jie Zhai, Wen-Ying Wang, Zhong-Mei He, Quan-Min Zhao, Chun-Yi Li
Yu-Su Wang, Wen-Ying Wang, Chun-Yi Li, Institute of Antler Science and Product Technology, Changchun Sci-Tech University, Changchun 130000, Jilin Province, China
Yu-Su Wang, Zhong-Mei He, Quan-Min Zhao, College of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun 130118, Jilin Province, China
Wen-Hui Chu, School of Life Science, Taizhou University, Taizhou 318000, Zhejiang Province, China
Jing-Jie Zhai, Department of Oral Implantology, Hospital of Stomatology, Jilin University, Changchun 130000, Jilin Province, China
Co-first authors: Yu-Su Wang and Wen-Hui Chu.
Author contributions: Wang YS, Zhao QM, and Li CY contributed to the conceptualization; Wang YS, Zhai JJ, Wang WY, and He ZM participated in the in vitro methodology; Wang YS, Chu WH, Wang WY, and Zhao QM were involved in the in vivo methodology; Wang YS, Zhai JJ, and He ZM took part in data analysis; Wang YS and Chu WH wrote the manuscript; Chu WH, He ZM, and Zhao QM contributed to the review and editing of this article; and all authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. U20A20403.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was conducted in accordance with the Animal Ethics Committee of the Institute of Antler Science and Product Technology, Changchun Sci-Tech University (AEC No: CKARI202309).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chun-Yi Li, PhD, Professor, Institute of Antler Science and Product Technology, Changchun Sci-Tech University, No. 1345 Pudong Road, Changchun 130000, Jilin Province, China. lichunyi1959@163.com
Received: October 20, 2023
Peer-review started: October 20, 2023
First decision: December 5, 2023
Revised: December 15, 2023
Accepted: January 19, 2024
Article in press: January 19, 2024
Published online: February 26, 2024
Processing time: 128 Days and 14.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Cartilage defects are some of the most common causes of arthritis. Cartilage lesions caused by inflammation, trauma or degenerative disease normally result in osteochondral defects. Previous studies have shown that decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from autologous, allogenic, or xenogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) can effectively restore osteochondral integrity.

AIM

To determine whether the decellularized ECM of antler reserve mesenchymal cells (RMCs), a xenogeneic material from antler stem cells, is superior to the currently available treatments for osteochondral defects.

METHODS

We isolated the RMCs from a 60-d-old sika deer antler and cultured them in vitro to 70% confluence; 50 mg/mL L-ascorbic acid was then added to the medium to stimulate ECM deposition. Decellularized sheets of adipocyte-derived MSCs (aMSCs) and antlerogenic periosteal cells (another type of antler stem cells) were used as the controls. Three weeks after ascorbic acid stimulation, the ECM sheets were harvested and applied to the osteochondral defects in rat knee joints.

RESULTS

The defects were successfully repaired by applying the ECM-sheets. The highest quality of repair was achieved in the RMC-ECM group both in vitro (including cell attachment and proliferation), and in vivo (including the simultaneous regeneration of well-vascularized subchondral bone and avascular articular hyaline cartilage integrated with surrounding native tissues). Notably, the antler-stem-cell-derived ECM (xenogeneic) performed better than the aMSC-ECM (allogenic), while the ECM of the active antler stem cells was superior to that of the quiescent antler stem cells.

CONCLUSION

Decellularized xenogeneic ECM derived from the antler stem cell, particularly the active form (RMC-ECM), can achieve high quality repair/reconstruction of osteochondral defects, suggesting that selection of decellularized ECM for such repair should be focused more on bioactivity rather than kinship.

Keywords: Osteochondral defect repair; Mesenchymal stem cells; Extracellular matrix; Decellularization; Antler stem cells; Reserve mesenchymal cells; Xenogeneic

Core Tip: Our study has shown that a decellularized xenogeneic extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from antler reserve mesenchymal cells, provided high quality repair of osteochondral defects in rat knee joints. This was achieved without detectable immune reaction in the recipient animals. This finding provides insights for the development of an effective therapeutic material for osteochondral defect repair and highlights the opportunity for use of this novel stem cell-derived ECM.