Properties of human trabecular bone cells from elderly women: implications for cell-based bone engraftment

Tissue-engineered bone regeneration offers new therapeutic options in the treatment of patients with fractures. Due to the changes in the hormone levels, elderly women are most affected by bone fractures and thus constitute one of the future target groups of cell-based bone therapy. For designing cell-based therapy approaches, a better understanding of individual-dependent variations in bone-derived cells of the host is required. In this study, a simple, high-yield procedure is described for the collection of cells from bone tissue of a high number of elderly women. The cultured cells display stem cell characteristics indicated by the presence of a CD13+, CD44+, CD90+, CD147+, CD14-, CD34-, CD45- and CD144- cell populations and by a stable undifferentiated phenotype as well as by the ability to proliferate extensively while retaining the potential to differentiate along the osteoblastic lineage even after 27 cell doublings. A high variability in the number of cell-forming units (CFUs) within a donor population of 34 samples, in the morphology within 50 donors, in the expression of alkaline phosphatase within 15 samples and in the responsiveness to BMP-2 was evident, but no age-related correlation could be found. In conclusion, the data indicate that individual variations in cell number, cell morphology and in the osteogenic potential of progenitor cells of the patient may be relevant for a successful treatment of bone fractures in the elderly by cell-based therapy approaches.