Pre-Clinical Study: Regenerating autologous elastic cartilage for treatments of facial deformities using monkey auricular cartilage progenitor cells

Statement of the Problem: Regenerative cartilage has a great potential to solve the present problem of facial surgery though there are several problems such as safety, quality/shape/volume of cartilage and cost. We recently identified a promising regenerative method based on the xenotransplantation of human auricular cartilage progenitor cells to immunodeficient animalsï¼?Kobayashi, Takebe et al, PNAS, 2011ï¼?and the autotransplantation of monkey auricular cartilage progenitor cells to immunocompetent individuals (Kagimoto et al, Cell Transplant. 2016) to reconstruct self-renewing elastic cartilage, which may potentially be applied to patients with facial injuries and abnormalities. Today I will introduce our autotransplantation regenerative approach and the results. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: We used 15 monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) and regenerated cartilage from their ear cartilage progenitor cells and autotransplanted them into their facial subcutaneous or submucosal legions to assume treatment surgery of present facial deformities. We monitored the transferred tissue using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), assessed it histologically, and measured the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) levels.

Author(s): Shintaro Kagimoto

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