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Diseased cartilage harbors unique migratory progenitor cells
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A new study finds previously unidentified fibrocartilage-forming progenitor cells in degenerating, diseased human cartilage, but not in cartilage from healthy joints.
The research, published in the April 3 issue of Cell Stem Cell, provides valuable insights into the reparative potential of cartilage and may lead to development of regenerative therapies for arthritis.
“Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common musculoskeletal disease in the elderly and is likely to be the fourth-leading cause of disability by the year 2020,” senior study investigator Nicolai Miosge, MD, from Georg August University in Goettingen, Germany, said in a press release. “This is our motivation for the further exploration of OA treatment options, including regenerative cell biological therapy.”
Previous research has suggested that OA tissue may harbor cells that possess an ability to contribute to the repair of damaged cartilage. Other researchers have suggested that these potentially regenerative cells may be specifically recruited to degenerating cartilage.
In their study, Miosge and colleagues sought to determine whether diseased adult cartilage tissue contains progenitor-like cells that exhibit migratory capabilities. They discovered that cartilage from humans with late-stage OA contains a unique population of progenitor cells called chondrogenic progenitor cells (CPC). The CPCs, which were not present in healthy cartilage, exhibited many characteristics associated with tissue-specific stem cells, including migratory activity and the potential to generate new cartilage.
Although the origin of the CPCs was not clear, there was some evidence that they migrated from the bone marrow, according to the press release.
Taken together, the findings establish CPCs as an exciting future target for stimulating the repair and regeneration of damaged cartilage.
“Our results offer new insights into the biology of progenitor cells in the context of diseased cartilage tissue,” Miosge said in the press release. “We ultimately hope to work towards utilizing these cells — which are already present in diseased tissue — for the development of regenerative OA therapies.”
Additional research is needed to identify the optimal conditions for promoting and sustaining the cartilage-producing potential of CPCs, he said.
Reference:
- Koelling S, Kruegel J, Irmer M, et al. Migratory chondrogenic progenitor cells from repair tissue during the later stages of human osteoarthritis. Cell Stem Cell. 4;4:324-335.