Study on the Development of Methods to Produce Artificial Cartilage (Chondro)
Research Area: Cellular Biology
Expedition(s): 7 and 8
Principal Investigator(s): ● George Keller, Space Biology Institute, Zurich, Switzerland
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
The Study on the Development of Methods to Produce
Artificial Cartilage (Chondro) investigation helps improve
medical treatment of cartilage injuries and provide insight
into cartilage implants for medical use. Chondro
compares the cartilage tissue cultured in normal gravity (1
g), RPM-simulated microgravity, and actual microgravity
environments to validate whether Earth-based simulated
microgravity systems are comparable to space
microgravity. Cartilage from the hip joint of a pig was
harvested, counted, and placed into 9 bioreactor
chambers in culture chambers (CC).RESULTS
All cartilage produced was soft, especially the tissue
produced on International Space Station (ISS).
Neocartilage formed in normal gravity was continuous in
shape and form, while both the RPM and the ISS tissues
were irregular. Although the ISS-produced cartilage had
weaker extracellular matrix stains, it had higher gene expression levels of collagen type II/type
I, which was comparable to normal cartilage. RPM- produced cartilage had the highest
reduction in cell density, which in turn increased cell spacing. Although the data indicated the
RPM system was not equivalent to real microgravity, the system did produce structural features
and cellular spacing similar to ISS results, making it a viable tool for producing prefabricated
collagen implants with fewer cells and without a scaffold.
PUBLICATION(S)
Stamenkovic V, Keller G, Nesic D, Cogoli A, Grogan SP. Neocartilage formation in 1g, simulated,
and microgravity environments: Implications for tissue engineering. Tissue Engineering. Part A.
2010;16(5):1729-1736. doi: 10.1089/ten.tea.2008.0624.
Stamenkovic V, Keller G, Cogoli A, Grogan SP. Neo-cartilage formation in microgravity
environment. 55th International Astronautical Congress, Vancouver, Canada; 2004.
This investigation is complete and all results are published.
Chondrocytes of hyaline cartilage. R.M. Hunt
image.