Not only were the researchers able to make cells change from one type into another in the laboratory, they grew the new chondrocytes in a three-dimensional matrix, a crucial advance for success in treating humans with cartilage damage. Researchers have been able to create cartilage cells from undifferentiated stem cells taken from samples of bone marrow, but harvesting such cells is invasive and painful for the donor and the number of cells gained is small. The Duke team, for the first time, demonstrated that cartilage cells can be created from fat removed during liposuction procedures. Erickson is a graduate student in biomedical engineering. This holds out the possibility, some time in the future, of taking fat cells from someone with a cartilage injury and growing new cartilage within a mold to replace the damaged tissue.
Cartilage is a type of connective tissue that lines many joints throughout the body.
However, since it is a tissue type that is poorly supplied by blood vessels, nerves and the lymphatic system, it has a very limited capacity for repair when damaged. There is a real need for a new approach to treating these injuries. The Duke researchers were surprised at how quickly they were able to prove in concept that they could grow chondrocytes from fat cells. In their series of experiments, the team used the materials collected from liposuction procedures performed on multiple human donors. These materials were then treated with a series of enzymes and centrifuged until cells, known as adipose-derived stromal cells, remained.