title: Effect of cartilaginous matrix components on the chondrogenesis and hypertrophy of mesenchymal stem cells in hyaluronic acid hydrogels.
abstract: The microenvironment of the extracellular matrix (ECM) plays a key role in directing the viability and subsequent differentiation of the encapsulated stem cells by the specific integration between the hydrated biomolecules and cell surface receptors. Herein, we developed a hydrogel platform based on hyaluronic acid (HA) that presents cartilage ECM molecules as a form of developmental cues. The hybrid hydrogels were generated by coupling photo-cross-linkable methacrylated HA (MeHA) with selected cartilaginous ECM molecules including chondroitin sulfate (CS) and type I collagen (Col I), and we studied the decoupled function of these cues in regulating the initial chondrogenesis, subsequent hypertrophy, and tissue mineralization by hMSCs. The results indicate upregulated mRNA expression of the chondrogenesis markers in the HA hydrogels that contain Col I or CS, and decreased expression of the hypertrophic markers compared with the control MeHA group. The quantification results also show that glycosaminoglycans accumulation increases in the hybrid hydrogels containing cartilaginous ECM molecules, both in vitro and in vivo. We hypothesize that these additional ECM components in the HA hydrogels further regulate the hMSCs chondrogenesis and hypertrophy by coordination. The understanding obtained in this study may guide biomaterial scaffold design, thereby facilitating manipulation of the differentiation and mineralization of induced hMSCs for application in the repair of different musculoskeletal defects. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 2292-2300, 2017.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.|Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.|Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yuxin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.|Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.|Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.|Shun Hing Institute of Advanced Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The People's Republic of China.|Centre of Novel Biomaterials, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|Shenzhen Research Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.|China Orthopedic Regenerative Medicine Group (CORMed), Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002356:Cartilage / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D020219:Chondrogenesis; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000737:chemistry; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D055153:Stem Cell Niche
chemical_list: D024043:Collagen Type II; D020100:Hydrogels; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates
keywords: chondrogenesis; extracellular matrix; hyaluronic acid; hypertrophy; mesenchymal stem cells; mineralization