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Cartilage and bone tissue engineering using adipose stromal/stem cells spheroids as building blocks
Gabriela S Kronemberger1, Renata Akemi Morais Matsui1, Guilherme de Almeida Santos de Castro E Miranda1
1Laboratory of Tissue Bioengineering, Directory of Metrology Applied to Life Sciences, National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO), Duque de Caxias, RJ 25250-020, Brazil.
Mesenchymal stem cell spheroids mimic embryonic development for tissue engineering. These cell clusters are ideal building blocks for creating cartilage and bone tissues using bottom-up approaches like 3D bioprinting.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Tissue Engineering
- Regenerative Medicine
Background:
- Scaffold-free tissue engineering aims to replicate embryonic development for in vitro tissue biofabrication.
- Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) are utilized in spheroid form as a basis for these techniques.
- Spheroids offer a promising avenue for creating more authentic tissue constructs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the application of adult MSC spheroids in mimicking developmental stages of cartilage and bone.
- To explore the potential of MSC spheroids as building blocks for tissue engineering.
- To discuss in vitro chondrogenesis and osteogenesis using adipose-derived MSC spheroids.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on MSC spheroids in developmental engineering.
- Analysis of spheroid fusion capabilities for tissue assembly.
- Discussion of in vitro studies on chondrogenesis and osteogenesis of MSC spheroids.
Main Results:
- MSC spheroids recapitulate key embryonic events in bone and cartilage formation.
- Spheroids demonstrate spontaneous fusion, enabling their use as building blocks.
- Adipose-derived MSC spheroids show potential for in vitro chondrogenesis and osteogenesis.
Conclusions:
- MSC spheroids are effective building blocks for bottom-up tissue engineering approaches.
- Techniques like 3D bioprinting can utilize spheroids for tissue assembly.
- Further research into spheroid fusion mechanisms is critical for advancing bottom-up tissue engineering.

