Effect of Interferon-Alpha-2b on Porcine Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Presented in part at the American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons 85th Annual Meeting, Scientific Sessions, Orlando, FL, September 2003.
Purpose
Patients undergoing enucleation and adjuvant interferon therapy for giant cell jaw tumors have been observed to exhibit exuberant bone formation in the resultant defects. We hypothesize that interferon promotes bone formation by enhancing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation and by stimulating osteoblasts. This is a preliminary study to determine the effects of interferon on porcine mesenchymal stem cells (pMSCs) in culture.
Materials and Methods
Isolated pMSCs were grown under the following conditions: 1) MSCs alone (negative control); 2) MSCs + osteogenic supplements (positive control); and 3) MSCs + interferon (experimental). Cell cultures were evaluated morphologically, by quantitative DNA analysis, and quantitative and qualitative alkaline phosphatase analysis.
Results
Cells treated with interferon exhibited a slower but constant proliferation rate, did not clump, and produced more alkaline phosphatase as compared with the negative control.
Conclusion
The data indicate that interferon may act to differentiate MSCs into osteoblasts and to stimulate metabolic activity while not increasing the proliferation rate.
⁎Instructor, Skeletal Biology Research Center, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA.
†Walter C. Guralnick Professor and Chairman, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA.
‡AO-ASIF Fellow in Pediatric Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
§Research Fellow, Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
¶John Homans Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery, Director of Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
∥Associate Professor and Director of Minimally Invasive Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Program, Skeletal Biology Research Center, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA.
Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Troulis: Dept of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Massachusetts General Hospital, Warren Building 1201, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114
This study was supported in part by a grant from the Hanson Foundation, Boston, MA (MJT, PI); NIH (K23-DE. 14070-01, MJT, PI); by the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Research Fund and the Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication; and by a grant from Therics, Inc (Princeton, NJ).
ABSTRACT