Tissue Engineering of Cartilage in Space

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 94; no. 25; pp. 13885 - 13890
• Main Authors: Freed, Lisa E., Langer, Robert, Martin, Ivan, Pellis, Neal R., Vunjak-Novakovic, Gordana
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 09.12.1997; National Acad Sciences; National Academy of Sciences; The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
• Subjects: Aeronautical engineering; Animals; Biological Sciences; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomedical Engineering - methods; Bioreactors; Biotechnology; Cartilage; Cartilage, Articular - cytology; Cartilage, Articular - growth & development; Cartilage, Articular - physiology; Cattle; Chondrocytes; Collagens; Cylinders; Humans; Medical research; Microgravity; Microscopy, Electron; Polymers; Space Flight; Space life sciences; Space stations; Tissue engineering; Viability; Weightlessness - adverse effects
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.94.25.13885

Tissue engineering of cartilage, i.e., the in vitro cultivation of cartilage cells on synthetic polymer scaffolds, was studied on the Mir Space Station and on Earth. Specifically, three-dimensional cell-polymer constructs consisting of bovine articular chondrocytes and polyglycolic acid scaffolds were grown in rotating bioreactors, first for 3 months on Earth and then for an additional 4 months on either Mir (10-4-10-6g) or Earth (1g). This mission provided a unique opportunity to study the feasibility of long-term cell culture flight experiments and to assess the effects of spaceflight on the growth and function of a model musculoskeletal tissue. Both environments yielded cartilaginous constructs, each weighing between 0.3 and 0.4 g and consisting of viable, differentiated cells that synthesized proteoglycan and type II collagen. Compared with the Earth group, Mir-grown constructs were more spherical, smaller, and mechanically inferior. The same bioreactor system can be used for a variety of controlled microgravity studies of cartilage and other tissues. These results may have implications for human spaceflight, e.g., a Mars mission, and clinical medicine, e.g., improved understanding of the effects of pseudo-weightlessness in prolonged immobilization, hydrotherapy, and intrauterine development.