Collection of Tissue Specimens for Analysis and Establishment of Cell Cultures

Background:

It is now apparent that virtually every human post-natal tissue contains some type of
stem/progenitor cell population that is responsible for tissue turnover and repair. Our
previous studies have identified a subset of human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) that is
multi-potent and able to regenerate bone, cartilage, myelosupportive stroma and adipocytes,
whereas stromal cells derived from human spleen (SpSCs) and thymus (TSCs) only form
myelosupportive stroma. Recent studies suggest that human adipose-derived stromal cells
(ASCs) may be similar to BMSCs, whereas stromal cells derived from human dermis (DSCs) have
none of these properties (and serve as a negative control for most experiments in vitro and
in vivo). How similar or dissimilar these different stromal cell populations are has yet to
be determined. Molecular profiling is needed to compare these different populations and in
order to elucidate the factors that control differentiation stromal cells into one cell type
or another.

Objectives:

Surgical waste (bone with red marrow, dermis, and adipose tissues) from males and females of
varying ages undergoing clinically indicated surgical procedures will be used to establish
stromal cell cultures to study the molecular profile and differentiation capacity of the
stromal cell populations from different tissues, and to further characterize the regulation
of gene expression and protein synthesis in these stem/progenitors cells.

Eligibility:

Any patient who is undergoing clinically indicated surgery that entails removal of bone with
red marrow, dermis and adipose tissue.

Design:

Normal surgical waste (bone with red marrow, dermis, and adipose) from procedures that are
performed on males and females at Children's Hospital will be placed in nutrient medium
(provided by NIDCR) and sent to the NIDCR for the establishment of cell culture strains.
Only the age, gender, site from which the tissue was removed and clinical diagnosis will be
recorded. The cell cultures from the different tissues will be used to determine their
phenotypic character and differentiation properties by molecular profiling, and for studies
to elucidate the regulation of gene expression and protein synthesis. Similarly, a portion
of the samples obtained at Children's Hospital will be used to generate histological
sections of the tissues. In some cases, RNA will be extracted from the tissues for RT-PCR
analysis. Normal samples (cells, sections, mRNA) will also serve as normal controls for
studies performed on samples obtained from patients with various diseases recruited to NIH
under current NIH protocols (97-D-0055, 97-D-0145, 01-D-0184). Pathological samples (cells,
sections, mRNA) will be studied in order to elucidate the cause of disease.

- INCLUSION CRITERIA:

- Any patient who is undergoing clinically indicated surgery that entails removal of
bone with red marrow, dermis and adipose tissue.

- Patients with a documented musculoskeletal disease will be eligible for inclusion in
this protocol if they are undergoing a medically indicated surgical procedure in
which surgical waste containing bone and/or skin and/or fat is generated.

- Subjects under 18 years of age may be entered into this research study.