Proteomic characterisation of hADSCs undergoing osteodifferentiation

Bone related diseases and fractures are recognised as second to cancer in terms of overall disease footprint, with direct costs estimated to be in excess of $9 billion dollars per annum. Due to a lack of effective treatments available to repair bone, there has been a push towards regenerative medicine as a potential solution. Mesenchymal stem cells have been trialed in an attempt to regenerate bone, with their primary benefit elicited when they engraft and differentiate into functional osteoblasts. Due to the low efficiency at which they achieve this in vivo, differentiating the cells in vitro prior to implantation may elicit a more significant bone regenerative effect. However, there is a need to better understand the differentiation process and their phenotype in comparison with the desired cell time, if they are to be used as a therapeutic.