Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (HUCMSCs) Exhibit Immature Nucleus Pulposus Cell Phenotype in a Laminin-rich Pseudo-3D Culture System

Phenotype in a Laminin-rich Pseudo-3D Culture System Chon BH, Jing L, Setton LA and +Chen J +Department of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery, Duke University, Durham, NC [email protected] INTRODUCTION. Cell supplementation to the intervertebral disc (IVD) may promote tissue regeneration and slow pathology. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been studied as a potential cell source for disc tissue regeneration both in vitro and in vivo. However, there remains a need to demonstrate that MSCs can regenerate matrix with unique characteristics matching native nucleus pulposus (NP) tissue. In prior work, immature NP cells were found to express specific laminin isoforms and laminin-binding receptors that may serve as phenotypic markers for evaluating MSC differentiation to NP-like cells in vitro. Human umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal cells (HUCMSCs) are fibroblast-like stromal cells found in the Wharton’s jelly, a proteoglycan and collagen rich matrix. HUCMSCs express many MSC markers (i.e. CD29, CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105, CD166, HLA-1) and are capable of differentiating into multiple types of cells (i.e. osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, skeletal myocytes, neural cells). The goal of this study is to evaluate a unique NP-like cell phenotype and matrix synthesis for HUCMSCs cultured in a lamininrich pseudo-3D culture system.