title: Isolation, identification and differentiation of human embryonic cartilage stem cells.
abstract: We isolated human embryonic cartilage stem cells (hECSCs), a novel stem cell population, from the articular cartilage of eight-week-old human embryos. These stem cells demonstrated a marker expression pattern and differentiation potential intermediate to those of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human adult stem cells (hASCs). hECSCs expressed markers associated with both hESCs (OCT4, NANOG, SOX2, SSEA-3 and SSEA-4) and human adult stem cells (hASCs) (CD29, CD44, CD90, CD73 and CD10). These cells also differentiated into adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, neurons and islet-like cells under specific inducing conditions. We identified N(6), 2'-O-dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (Bt2cAMP) as an inducer of chondrogenic differentiation in hECSCs. Similar results using N(6), 2'-O-dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (Bt2cAMP) were obtained for two other types of human embryonic tissue-derived stem cells, human embryonic hepatic stem cells (hEHSCs) and human embryonic amniotic fluid stem cells (hEASCs), both of which exhibited a marker expression pattern similar to that of hECSCs. The isolation of hECSCs and the discovery that N(6), 2'-O-dibutyryl cyclic adenosine 3':5'-monophosphate (Bt2cAMP) induces chondrogenic differentiation in different stem cell populations might aid the development of strategies in tissue engineering and cartilage repair.
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Changhao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Zi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Chen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Anhui
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Xi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Regenerative Medicine, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jilin University, 1266 Fujin Road, Changchun, Jilin, 130021, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000166:cytology; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002469:Cell Separation / Q000379:methods; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D020219:Chondrogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D053595:Embryonic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000166:cytology; D023822:Tissue Engineering
chemical_list: D000242:Cyclic AMP
keywords: Bt2cAMP; articular cartilage; chondrogenesis; expression of markers; human embryonic cartilage stem cells (hECSCs); tissue engineering