title: Chondrogenesis of rabbit mesenchymal stem cells in fibrin/hyaluronan composite scaffold in vitro.
abstract: Scaffold material is expected to play a crucial role in induction of chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) for cartilage tissue engineering. Here we demonstrated the feasibility of a fibrin/hyaluronan (HA) composite hydrogel as a potent scaffold for support of chondrogenesis of rabbit MSCs (rMSCs). rMSCs were prepared in three-dimensional cultures of pellet, alginate layer, and fibrin/HA gel. Specimens in each group were cultured in chondrogenic defined media for 4 weeks in the absence or presence of transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) treatment. Viability of rMSCs was somewhat reduced until 4 weeks, which was less significant in fibrin/HA gels than in the alginate layer (*p < 0.05). The fibrin/HA group showed transient size reduction by about 35% at 1 week, but showed significantly higher mechanical strength than the alginate group. In safranin-O and alcian blue stains, accumulation of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) was observed clearly from 1 week, and homogenously in the entire area at 4 weeks in the fibrin/HA group. Of note, TGF-β1 treatment showed no additional effect on GAGs accumulation in the fibrin/HA group. The alginate and pellet groups, however, showed much lower levels of GAGs accumulation only in the presence of TGF-β1. Biochemical assays for GAGs and collagen, and expression of chondrogenic markers also showed much better results in the fibrin/HA group, even without TGF-β treatment than the other groups. These results demonstrated that fibrin/HA composite gel efficiently promoted chondrogenic differentiation of rMSCs, even without TGF-β treatment, and that it could be a useful tool for use in cartilage tissue engineering.
authors.affiliation: Cell Therapy Center, Ajou University Medical Center, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Hyug
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Byung Hyune
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: So Ra
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Byoung-Hyun
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Min
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000943:Antigens, Differentiation / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002356:Cartilage / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020219:Chondrogenesis; D005337:Fibrin / Q000737:chemistry*; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D013997:Time Factors; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000943:Antigens, Differentiation; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D005337:Fibrin; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid