title: Restoration of chondrocytic phenotype on a two-dimensional micropatterned surface.
abstract: Chondrocytes within mature cartilage reside in a 3D matrix and adopt a distinctive round morphology. A vast 2D-culture surface is well-known to induce chondrocyte dedifferentiation characterized by the loss of spherical morphology and ceased expression of chondrogenic markers. Methods to restore chondrogenesis so far only occur on a certain level producing varied cell subpopulations and inferior cartilage matrix; the critical parameters, especially for the pericellular microenvironment, are still to be precisely determined. In this study, arrays of 2D circular micropatterns were designed to hold single subcultured chondrocytes with stable adhesion. The chondrocytes rounded up forming a 3D architecture; they remodeled their cytoskeleton to resemble in-situ chondrocytes and expressed collagen II instead of collagen I or fibronectin. This technique suggested that pure physical constraints can induce chondrocytic phenotype restoration on a 2D surface; it also provides a new design pathway to precisely control the microenvironment surrounding every chondrocyte therefore to unify the redifferentiation level of individual cell.
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Centre, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7HS, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Mi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Division for Biomedical Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Xiaofei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Division for Biomedical Engineering, College of Science and Engineering, The University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Huabing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: Materials Science Centre, School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester M1 7HS, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Julie E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gough
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D013499:Surface Properties