Tissue repair with multipotent cells

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of medical science, in particular to technology directed at repairing defects in living, preferably human, tissue. The present invention provides a method for inducing differentiation of multipotent cells to a desired cell type, as well as a method for repairing a tissue defect in a human or animal patient using the concept of said method for inducing differentiation of multipotent cells. The invention further relates to a kit for carrying out the method for repairing a tissue defect.

1 . A method for inducing differentiation of multipotent cells to a desired cell type comprising the step of exposing a population of the multipotent cells to a population of primary cells of the desired cell type. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the number of cells in the population of primary cells to the number of cells in the population of multipotent cells is from 1:200 to 1:3. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the ratio of the number of cells in the population of primary cells to the number of cells in the population of multipotent cells is from 1:200 to 2:3. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of applying the combined population of multipotent cells and the population of primary cells to a tissue defect in a patient. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the population of multipotent cells and/or the population of primary cells are isolated from a biopsy from the patient. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the combined populations of multipotent and primary cells are applied to the tissue defect without having been expanded in vitro. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the multipotent cells and the primary cells are human cells. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the population of multipotent cells and the population of primary cells are combined without having been expanded in vitro. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of seeding the combined population of multipotent cells and primary cells onto a biocompatible scaffold. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises a material selected from the group consisting of metals and metal alloys, ceramics, (bio)glasses, natural and synthetic polymeric materials, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises a copolymer of a polyethylene glycol and a polybutylene terephthalate. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold is partially or completely covered by a calcium phosphate coating. 
     
     
         13 . A method of preparing a composition for tissue repair, comprising
 combining a population of multipotent cells and a population of primary cells without having been expanded in vitro and   seeding the combined population of multipotent cells and primary cells onto a biocompatible scaffold.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the ratio of the number of cells in the population of primary cells to the number of cells in the population of multipotent cells is from 1:200 to 1:3 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the ratio of the number of cells in the population of primary cells to the number of cells in the population of multipotent cells is from 1:200 to 2:3. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises a material selected from the group consisting of metals and metal alloys, ceramics, (bio)glasses, natural and synthetic polymeric materials, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold comprises a copolymer of a polyethylene glycol and a polybutylene terephthalate. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the biocompatible scaffold is partially or completely covered by a calcium phosphate coating.