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Invited Talk

Intervertebral Disc Repair with Aging of Stem Cells - What's the problem?

Dr. Jivko Stoyanov
Spinal Injury Research
Swiss Paraplegic Research
CH-6207 Nottwil

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate towards various cell types, forming bone, muscle and cartilage and recently have been shown to be involved also in the processes of immunomodulation. Due to limited sample size, bone marrow (BM) derived MSCs have to be expanded in vitro for medical uses. Donor, environment and cell culture variability make it difficult to predict the extent to which cell expansion can proceed before MSCs begin to lose the ability to differentiate towards the required phenotype. Similar to other somatic cells cultured in vitro, MSCs have a limited capacity to divide, after which they become senescent. From a medical perspective the problem of senescence has important in vitro implications. As natural donor variation cannot be influenced, quality control becomes crucial for setting correct starting points for cell expansion and differentiation. Current knowledge about MSC senescence and its in vitro control is limited to a few studies, none of which attempted to quantify senescence for therapeutic purposes. In an ongoing project we want to validate a set of senescence associated biochemical, molecular and morphological markers, so that we can build a quality control 'score set' tool for applied research and medical use.

Biography

Jivko Stoyanov is a project leader at the Swiss Paraplegic Research in Nottwil, Switzerland. In 2001, he received a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Birmingham, UK, and in 1996, a M.Sc. in biotechnology from the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. In 1996, he specialized in ecotoxicology and anaerobic microbiology at the Danish Technical University, Copenhagen. From 2002 to 2004 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Bern working on the role of copper as both micronutrient and toxic element for the cells. From 2004 to 2007 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Surgical Technology and Biomechanics working on the biology of the intervertebral disc. In 2007, he moved to Swiss Paraplegic Research where he established a new laboratory focused on the use of mesenchymal stem cells for regeneration of intervertebral disc tissue. Since the beginning of the Master of Biomedical Engineering Program, Jivko Stoyanov has been teaching two courses. He also supervises MSc as well as PhD students at the state of the art laboratories in Nottwil.

Volker Koch, 05/2009