A Combined Approach for the Assessment of Cell Viability and Cell Functionality of Human Fibrochondrocytes for Use in Tissue Engineering Garzón Bello, Ingrid Johanna Carriel Araya, Víctor Marín Fernández, Ana Belén Ximenes Oliveira, Ana Celeste Garrido-Gómez, Juan Campos Muñoz, Antonio Jesús Sánchez Quevedo, María Del Carmen Alaminos Mingorance, Miguel X-ray microanalysis Temporomandibular-joint disc Elemental concentrations Articular cartilage Endothelial cells Stem cells Chondrocytes Differentiation Disorders Therapy Temporo-mandibular joint disc disorders are highly prevalent in adult populations. Autologous chondrocyte implantation is a well-established method for the treatment of several chondral defects. However, very few studies have been carried out using human fibrous chondrocytes from the temporo-mandibular joint (TMJ). One of the main drawbacks associated to chondrocyte cell culture is the possibility that chondrocyte cells kept in culture tend to de-differentiate and to lose cell viability under in in-vitro conditions. In this work, we have isolated human temporo-mandibular joint fibrochondrocytes (TMJF) from human disc and we have used a highly-sensitive technique to determine cell viability, cell proliferation and gene expression of nine consecutive cell passages to determine the most appropriate cell passage for use in tissue engineering and future clinical use. Our results revealed that the most potentially viable and functional cell passages were P5–P6, in which an adequate equilibrium between cell viability and the capability to synthesize all major extracellular matrix components exists. The combined action of pro-apoptotic (TRAF5, PHLDA1) and anti-apoptotic genes (SON, HTT, FAIM2) may explain the differential cell viability levels that we found in this study. These results suggest that TMJF should be used at P5–P6 for cell therapy protocols. 2014-03-10T11:20:00Z 2014-03-10T11:20:00Z 2012 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Garzón, I.; et al. A Combined Approach for the Assessment of Cell Viability and Cell Functionality of Human Fibrochondrocytes for Use in Tissue Engineering. Plos One, 7(12): e51961 (2012). [http://hdl.handle.net/10481/30759] 1932-6203 doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051961 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/30759 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License Public Library of Science (PLOS)