Bioengineered osteo-articular systems: 3D culture of bone and cartilage in simulated microgravity

In vitro tissue models are becoming increasingly important for basic research purposes, as well as for pharmaco-toxicology and clinical applications, but their relevance is often limited by the rapid loss of cell viability and differentiated functions, that usually occurs when traditional culture conditions are employed. In this chapter we describe various procedures that allow the three-dimensional (3D), long-term culture of articular chondrocytes, cartilage and bone/cartilage tissue explants. The key point of our methods is the use of the Rotary Cell Culture System (RCCS™) bioreactor, that, by reproducing critical aspects of microgravity, generates a particular microenvironment, where high mass transfer is attained with low shear stress, thus providing optimal conditions for cell survival and function within large-sized 3D constructs. The results obtained demonstrate that our culture methods can preserve cell viability and differentiated phenotype over several weeks of culture, confirming their value for a wide range of biomedical applications.