title: Differentiation of Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Chondrocytes for Construction of Three-dimensional Cartilage Tissue.
abstract: A differentiation method of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to chondrocytes was developed for the construction of a three-dimensional (3D) cartilage tissue. The adhesive cells, which were isolated from a human bone marrow aspirate were embedded in type I collagen in a poly-L: -lactate-glycolic acid copolymer (PLGA) mesh and cultivated for 4 week together with growth factors. The degree of cellular differentiation was estimated by quantitative RT-PCR of aggrecan and type II collagen mRNAs and by staining with Safranin O. The 3D culture showed a higher degree of differentiation even without growth factors than the conventional pellet culture with growth factors, namely, dexamethasone and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta 3. The 3D culture for 2 week with the combined addition of dexamethasone, TGF-beta 3, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I reached a 30% expression of aggrecan mRNA compared with that in primary human chondrocytes, while the aggrecan mRNA expression in the conventional pellet culture was less than 2%. The sequential two-step differentiation cultivation, during which the cells were cultivated in 3D for 1 week after the conventional two-dimensional (2D) culture for 1 week, could markedly accelerate the expression of aggrecan mRNA compared with the 3D cultivation for 2 week.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Chikayoshi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Matsuda
authors.forename: Mutsumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.forename: Takako
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.forename: Shigeyuki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wakitani
authors.forename: Toshiomi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshida