Nanotubes and stem cells for bone reconstruction

It has been found that the use of implants made of titanium nanotubes together with stem cells can accelerate the growth of bone tissue. The group of bioengineers from the University of California – San Diego used nano-biotechnology technologies that made it possible to carry out this experiment. In fact, they were able to place mesenchymal cells inside these very thin titanium oxide nanotubes to then induce and control cell differentiation. This process leads to the formation of specialized cells called osteoblasts, which are responsible for forming bone tissue. Mesenchymal cells, endowed with a certain degree of stemness, i.e. of giving rise to other cell lines, can be extracted from the bone marrow of the same patient. The most interesting discovery of this work is undoubtedly the fact that by precisely controlling the diameter of these nanotubes it is possible to modulate the differentiation. Using larger diameters, it has been observed that the growth of osteoblasts occurs more rapidly and the resulting tissue is more resistant. The implantation of these nanotubes with mesenchymal cells may perhaps, in the future, be applied to the clinic to guarantee patients a faster post-operative course. The work, with lead author Brian Seunghan, was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). [via Ucsd ]