Bone cell culture in a three-dimensional polymer bead stabilizes the differentiated phenotype and provides evidence that osteoblastic cells synthesize type III collagen and fibronectin.

Abstract excerpt

We report a novel method to culture chick embryo osteoblasts in vitro. Primary cells were grown from explants of calvaria and then cultured within alginate polymer beads. Enriched cultures of primary osteoblasts were obtained because these cells grow readily within alginate beads but other cell types present in the initial outgrowth from calvarial fragments, such as fibroblasts, do not. A reproducible bone cell...

Topics

• Alginates
• Alkaline Phosphatase
• Animals
• Antibodies, Monoclonal
• Cations, Divalent
• Cell Division
• Cells, Cultured
• Chick Embryo
• Collagen
• Cyclic AMP