A first approach to evaluate the cell dose in highly porous scaffolds by using a nondestructive metabolic method

BACKGROUND: In cell-based therapies, in vitro studies on biomimetic cell–scaffold constructs can facilitate the determination of the cell dose, a key factor in guaranteeing the effectiveness of the treatment. However, highly porous scaffolds do not allow a nondestructive evaluation of the cell number. Our objective was to develop a nondestructive method for human mesenchymal stem cells dose evaluation in a highly porous scaffold for bone regeneration. MATERIALS & MEASUREMENT METHOD: Proliferation trend of human mesenchymal stem cells on Biocoral(®) scaffolds was measured by a resazurin-based assay here optimized for 3D cultures. The method allows to noninvasively follow the cell proliferation on biocorals over 3 weeks with very high reproducibility. CONCLUSION: This reliable method could be a powerful tool in cell-based therapies for cell dose determination.