Bone formation from embryonic stem cells

22 October 2009 

Jojanneke Jukes of the University of Twente has succeeded in growing bone tissue with the help of embryonic stem cells for the first time. Initially, she had been looking for a suitable carrier material for the formation of cartilage. It thus came as a total surprise when the cartilage then developed into bone. Jukes’ doctoral defence will take place on 22 October at the Faculty of Science and Technology.

It is difficult or impossible for damaged cartilage to repair itself. Jojanneke Jukes of the University of Twente has carried out research into whether embryonic stem cells could be used to repair damaged cartilage. It is known that stem cells can renew themselves and grow into different types of cells. First of all, she successfully investigated whether embryonic stem cells could be made to form cartilage tissue. In order to grow cartilage, cells are often combined with a carrier material. As well as experimenting with a newly developed carrier material, Jukes also used carrier materials which had already been used to grow cartilage and bone tissue.

Cells were cultured on a ceramic material, among others, and made to develop into cartilage in the lab. The cartilage that was cultured was then implanted in mice. To the amazement of the researcher, the cartilage tissue continued to develop into bone. This process mirrored the formation of new bone in embryos and young children, with the cartilage forming an intermediate step. This is a preliminary study in which bone was grown in vivo using embryonic stem cells under controlled, reproducible circumstances. This bone formation technique offers a promising new technique for repairing bone defects.

From left to right, you can see the carrier material (greyish in colour) and the cartilage tissue (light pink) on which bone (dark pink) is being formed.

Note to the press:
Jojanneke Jukes' doctoral defence will take place on Thursday 22 October at the Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Tissue Regeneration. She carried out her research at the MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine. Her supervisors were Prof. Clemens van Blitterswijk and Dr Jan de Boer. The summary of her thesis, Skeletal tissue engineering using embryonic stem cells, is available in digital format upon request.
Please contact Rianne Wanders on 053-4892721.