Research
Injectable polyethylene glycol-fibrinogen hydrogel adjuvant improves survival and differentiation of transplanted mesoangioblasts in acute and chronic skeletal-muscle degeneration
- † Equal contributors
1 Department of Biology, Tor Vergata Rome University, Rome, Italy
2 Division of Regenerative Medicine, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
3 Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
4 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, UCL, London, UK
5 IRCCS MultiMedica, Milan, Italy
Skeletal Muscle 2012, 2:24 doi:10.1186/2044-5040-2-24
Published: 26 November 2012Abstract
Background
Cell-transplantation therapies have attracted attention as treatments for skeletal-muscle disorders; however, such research has been severely limited by poor cell survival. Tissue engineering offers a potential solution to this problem by providing biomaterial adjuvants that improve survival and engraftment of donor cells.
Methods
In this study, we investigated the use of intra-muscular transplantation of mesoangioblasts (vessel-associated progenitor cells), delivered with an injectable hydrogel biomaterial directly into the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle of acutely injured or dystrophic mice. The hydrogel cell carrier, made from a polyethylene glycol-fibrinogen (PF) matrix, is polymerized in situ together with mesoangioblasts to form a resorbable cellularized implant.
Results
Mice treated with PF and mesoangioblasts showed enhanced cell engraftment as a result of increased survival and differentiation compared with the same cell population injected in aqueous saline solution.
Conclusion
Both PF and mesoangioblasts are currently undergoing separate clinical trials: their combined use may increase chances of efficacy for localized disorders of skeletal muscle.
