Review: Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Cell–Based Reconstructive Therapy in Orthopedics

Adult stem cells provide replacement and repair descendants for normal turnover or injured tissues. These cells have been isolated and expanded in culture, and their use for therapeutic strategies requires technologies not yet perfected. In the 1970s, the embryonic chick limb bud mesenchymal cell culture system provided data on the differentiation of cartilage, bone, and muscle. In the 1980s, we used this limb bud cell system as an assay for the purification of inductive factors in bone. In the 1990s, we used the expertise gained with embryonic mesenchymal progenitor cells in culture to develop the technology for isolating, expanding, and preserving the stem cell capacity of adult bone marrow-derived…