Objective To study three-dimensional culturing methods of neonatal rat cardiac myocytes in simulated microgravity. Methods Neonatal rat primary cardiac myocytes were separated and seeded into polylactic acid scaffolds, stirredin spinner flasks for 24 hours, and then moved into rotary cell culture system for three-dimensional culture. The growth of cardiac myocytes was observed underinverted phase contrast microscope, scanning electron microscope and transmission electron microscope, and metabolic assay was assessed by MTT assay. Results Cardiac myocytes with sustained metabolic activity attached to the polylactic acid scaffolds, extended and confluenced. Pulsations of PLAcardiac myocytes was found in some areas. Conclusion The rotary cell culture system is suitable to develop neonatal rat cardiac myocytes culturing for three-dimensional modeling.
Objective To culture primary parathyroid cells by mean of simulated microgravity, observe their basic morphological characteristics, study survival rate and secretory function of parathyroid cells, and explore more excellent culture mean of parathyroid cells. Methods There were 37 male Wistar rats, the body weight was 150–200 g. The rat was intraperitoneally injected with 1% pentobarbital sodium (50 mg/kg). The parathyroid glands were surgically excised and identified pathologically. The parathyroid gland cells were got and digested them with collagenase Ⅱ, which were divided into three groups: conventional culture group (simple parathyroid cells were cultured), polyglycolic acid (PGA) scaffold culture group (the parathyroid cells were cultured on the PGA scaffold), and simulated microgravity culture group (the parathyroid cells and PGA scaffolds were cultured in simulated microgravity environment). The parathyroid cells were cultured for 1, 3, 5 or 7 days in different culture conditions, then the parathyroid hormone (PTH) was measured, morphological characteristics of the parathyroid cell was observed under phase contrast microscope, survival rate of the parathyroid cells was calculated by acridine orange/propidium iodide staining. Results The parathyroid cell morphologies of most cells were well and center of part of cell mass was necrosis on day 7 in the conventional culture group. The most parathyroid cells were spreading toward the poles along the PGA cell scaffold in the longitudinal direction and the adjacent stents were connected by extracellular matrix on day 7 in the PGA scaffold culture group. The parathyroid cells cultured under the simulated microgravity were got round and formed clusters on day 7 in the simulated microgravity culture group. Compared with the other two groups on day 7, the PTH and the survival rate of the parathyroid cells were significantly higher in the simulated microgravity culture group (P<0.05). Conclusions Parathyroid cells cultured in simulated microgravity environment could maintain better morphology, survival rate is higher, and secretory function is better. Therefore, parathyroid cells cultured in simulated microgravity could be used as good donor cell for treatment of hypoparathyroidism. PGA scaffold could be used as a good carrier for culture of parathyroid cell.
To study the effect of microgravity on peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) in rats, tail-suspended rats were applied to simulate microgravity environment. SpO2 and arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2) were measured by pulse oximeter and arterial blood gas analyzer (ABGA) respectively on the 14th day, 21st day and 28th day in tail-suspended group and control group. Paired t-test shows that SpO2 was significantly lower than SaO2 in tail-suspended group on the 14th day (P < 0.05), the 21st day ( P < 0.05) and the 28th day ( P < 0.01). The ANOVA results shows that modeling time had significant effect on SpO 2 value but no effect on SaO2 value in tail-suspended group. These results indicate that pulse oximeter may be not suitable for oxygen saturation test in microgravity environment.
In this study, we aim to investigat the effect of microgravity on osteoblast differentiation in osteoblast-like cells (MC3T3-E1). In addition, we explored the response mechanism of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway to " zero-g” in MC3T3-E1 cells under the simulated microgravity conditions. MC3T3-E1 were cultured in conventional (CON) and simulated microgravity (SMG), respectively. Then, the expression of the related osteoblastic genes and the specific molecules in NF-κB signaling pathway were measured. The results showed that the mRNA and protein levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), osteocalcin (OCN) and type Ⅰ collagen (CoL-Ⅰ) were dramatically decreased under the simulated microgravity. Meanwhile, the NF-κB inhibitor α (IκB-α) protein level was decreased and the expressions of phosphorylation of IκB-α (p-IκB-α), p65 and phosphorylation of p65 (p-p65) were significantly up-regulated in SMG group. In addition, the IL-6 content in SMG group was increased compared to CON. These results indicated that simulated microgravity could activate the NF-κB pathway to regulate MC3T3-E1 cells differentiation.
Objective To prepare the silk fibroin microcarrier loaded with clematis total saponins (CTS) (CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier), and to investigate the effect of microcarrier combined with chondrocytes on promoting rabbit knee articular cartilage defects repair. Methods CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier was prepared by high voltage electrostatic combined with freeze drying method using the mixture of 5% silk fibroin solution, 10 mg/mL CTS solution, and glycerin. The samples were characterized by scanning electron microscope and the cumulative release amount of CTS was detected. Meanwhile, unloaded silk fibroin microcarrier was also prepared. Chondrocytes were isolated from knee cartilage of 4-week-old New Zealand rabbits and cultured. The 3rd generation of chondrocytes were co-cultured with the two microcarriers respectively for 7 days in microgravity environment. During this period, the adhesion of chondrocytes to microcarriers was observed by inverted phase contrast microscope and scanning electron microscope, and the proliferation activity of cells was detected by cell counting kit 8 (CCK-8), and compared with normal cells. Thirty 3-month-old New Zealand rabbits were selected to make bilateral knee cartilage defects models and randomly divided into 3 groups (n=20). Knee cartilage defects in group A were not treated, and in groups B and C were filled with the unloaded silk fibroin microcarrier-chondrocyte complexes and CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier-chondrocyte complexes, respectively. At 12 weeks after operation, the levels of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), MMP-13, and tissue inhibitor of MMP 1 (TIMP-1) in articular fluid were detected by ELISA. The cartilage defects were collected for gross observation and histological observation (HE staining and toluidine blue staining). Western blot was used to detect the expressions of collagen type Ⅱ and proteoglycan. The inflammatory of joint synovium was observed by histological staining and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) immunohistochemical staining. Results The CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier was spherical, with a diameter between 300 and 500 μm, a porous surface, and a porosity of 35.63%±3.51%. CTS could be released slowly in microcarrier for a long time. Under microgravity, the chondrocytes attached to the surface of the two microcarriers increased gradually with the extension of culture time, and the proliferation activity of chondrocytes at 24 hours after co-culture was significantly higher than that of normal chondrocytes (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in proliferation activity of chondrocytes between the two microcarriers (P>0.05). In vivo experiment in animals showed that the levels of MMP-9 and MMP-13 in group C were significantly lower than those in groups A and B (P<0.05), and the level of TIMP-1 in group C was significantly higher (P<0.05). Compared with group A, the cartilage defects in groups B and C were filled with repaired tissue, and the repaired surface of group C was more complete and better combined with the surrounding cartilage. Histological observation and Western blot analysis showed that the International Cartilage Repair Scoring (ICRS) and the relative expression levels of collagen type Ⅱ and proteoglycan in groups B and C were significantly better than those in group A, and group C was significantly better than group B (P<0.05). The histological observation showed that the infiltration of synovial inflammatory cells and hyperplasia of small vessels significantly reduced in group C compared with groups A and B. iNOS immunohistochemical staining showed that the expression of iNOS in group C was significantly lower than that in groups A and B (P<0.05).Conclusion CTS-silk fibroin microcarrier has good CTS sustained release effect and biocompatibility, and can promote the repair of rabbit cartilage defect by carrying chondrocyte proliferation in microgravity environment.