Author(s)
Travis Peng
Pooja Swami
Zack Goldman
Jose F. Palacios
Matthew I. Saleem
Carol Wang
Joseph Tarr
Nicholas Bastidas
Lee P. Smith
Daniel Grande
Affiliation(s)
Northwell Health (Peng, Swami, Goldman, Palacios, Saleem, Wang, Bastidas, Smith, Grande); Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine (Peng, Palacios, Saleem, Wang, Bastidas, Smith, Grande); Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research (Peng, Swami, Goldman, Saleem, Grande);
Abstract:
Background: Cadaveric costal cartilage (CCC) allografts offer a promising treatment avenue for facial plastic reconstruction. However, the integration of these implants at a cellular level is not well studied.
Learning Objectives:
Discuss host cell integration in CCC implants and their therapeutic potential.
Study objective:
Assess host cell migration into subcutaneously implanted CCC grafts.
Design Type:
Pre-Clinical Animal Study
Methods: Ubiquitin-GFP transgenic mice were subcutaneously implanted with pellets shaped from irradiated cadaveric costal cartilage (MTF Biologics). The implants were retrieved at 2- and 4-week timepoints following implantation and compared to non-implanted CCC maintained in media. Implants were stained with Safranin-O, anti-GFP antibody, and anti-human antibody (negative control) and analyzed with brightfield microscopy.
Results:
A total of 6 mice (n=3 at each time point) were implanted with 4 pellets each. Brightfield microscopy showed a clear GFP signal within the pellet compared to control. Safranin-O staining showed lack of positive stain in a similar pattern. Anti-human antibody was negative in both the implanted and control pellets.
Conclusion:
This pilot study suggests that host cells are able to migrate into CCC for eventual allograft integration after only 4 weeks in vivo. GFP staining confirmed host cell infiltration, which was further evidenced by a lack of anti-human antibody staining, showing definitively that cells were in fact from the host rather than from the donor. Safranin-O stain showed evidence of cartilage remodeling within the implant. These initial findings represent the host cell’s first steps towards integration of CCC implant into biologically functional cartilage.