For the skeletal tissue engineering autologous stem cells are obtained from the bone marrow (BM). However, BM procurement procedures may be painful and may yield low number of stem cells upon processing. There is a need for other convenient stem cells sources.
The omentum majus is potential source of mesenchymal tissues. Thus the aim of this study was to determine if stem cells potentially present in human omentum majus could differentiate into osteogenic tissue. The observations were also performed in the presence of chosen biomaterials (steel, titanium, alumina, hydroxyapatite).
Collected cells were incubated on 96 wells plate (15000 cells per well) per one week in control media (i.e. DMEM + 10% FBS) without vitamin C and with vitamin C, and media enriched with: vitamin D3, dexamethasone. Human osteoblasts were used as a control. Osteocalcin level and alkaline phosphatase activity were compared between groups. Our results suggest that in humans, the omentum majus adipose tissue is able to respond to vitamin C, vitamin D3 and dexamethasone in a manner similar to osteoblasts. The results were confirmed on several chosen biomaterials. It suggests that these cells may express an osteoblast-like phenotype. Thus omentum may be taken into account as potential source of stem cells for skeletal reconstruction.

Keywords: Tissue Engineering, Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Omentum Majus, Osteoblasts