Spinner-flask culture induces redifferentiation of de-differentiated chondrocytes.
Implantation of chondrocytes isolated from patients and expanded in number in vitro is being used to treat patients with cartilage injuries. However, chondrocytes de-differentiate during culture with several passages, and cartilage regenerated by implantation of de-differentiated chondrocytes may be suboptimal. Here, we show that a spinner-flask culture system induces formation of chondrocyte aggregates and redifferentiate de-differentiated chondrocytes. Spinner-flask cultures induced the aggregate formation of chondrocytes with passage 1 or 4. Importantly, spinner-flask cultures induced redifferentiation of the de-differentiated chondrocytes, as type I collagen expression was significantly lower and type II collagen expression was significantly higher in spinner flask-cultured chondrocytes than in monolayer-cultured chondrocytes. This system is easily scalable and could be feasible for clinical setting.
Department of Bioengineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Tae-Jin
TJ
Lee
Suk Ho
SH
Bhang
Wan-Guen
WG
La
Hee Seok
HS
Yang
Jun Yeup
JY
Seong
Haeshin
H
Lee
Gun-Il
GI
Im
Soo-Hong
SH
Lee
Byung-Soo
BS
Kim
D000818:Animals; D019149:Bioreactors; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning