As the incidence of osteoarthritis increased over the last years, development of new therapeutic approaches for osteochondral regeneration came into the focus of tissue engineering research.
The focus of this project lay in evaluating the therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles isolated from mesenchymal stem cells derived from the Hoffa´s fat pad on processes occurring during osteoarthritis. The Hoffa´s fat pad is located intra-articularly behind and under the patellar. Due to its proximity to the cartilage, mesenchymal stem cells from this adipose tissue are more involved in the development and progression of osteoarthritis as mesenchymal stem cells derived from bone marrow which are often used for cartilage regeneration studies.
The majority of the project was conducted at the Danube University Krems, with the IMC University of applied Sciences Krems taking on the proteomic analysis of the extracellular vesicles by mass spectrometry. Further project partners were the Medical University of Vienna and OrthoSera GmbH. The project was funded within the Life Science Call 2018 by the NÖ Gesellschaft für Forschungsförderung (GFF).
A wholistic characterisation of the extracellular vesicles from Hoffa's fat pad could be concluded. The complete proteome analysis showed a multitude of regenerative signaling molecules as well as confirmed the transfer of proteins from the various serum tretments to the vesicles.
