title: Study of chondrogenic potential of stem cells in co-culture with chondrons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Three-dimensional biomimetic scaffolds have widespread applications in biomedical tissue engineering due to similarity of their nanofibrous architecture to native extracellular matrix. Co-culture system has stimulatory effect on chondrogenesis of adult mesenchymal stem cells. This work presents a co-culture strategy using human articular chondrons and adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) from infrapatellar fat pad (IPFP) for cartilage tissue production.
  
  
  METHODS
  Isolated stem cells were characterized by flowcytometry. Electrospun and polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds (900 nm fiber diameter) was obtained from Bon Yakhteh (Tehran-Iran) and human infrapatellar fat pad-derived stem cells (IPFP-ASCs) were seeded on them. IPFP-ASCs on scaffolds were co-cultured with articular chondrons using transwell. After 21 day, chondrogenic differentiation of stem cell was evaluated by determining the genes expression of collagen2, aggrecan and Indian hedgehog using real-time RT-PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Genes expression of collagen2, aggrecan by IPFP-ASCs did not alter significantly in comparison with control group. Howevers, expression of Indian hedgehog decreased significantly compared to control group (P< 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings indicate that chondrons obtained from osteoarthritic articular cartilage did not stimulate chondrogenic differentiation of IPFP-ASCs in co-culture.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Parisa
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nikpou
authors.affiliation: Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Daryoush Mohammad
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Nejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Hajar
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shafaei
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Roshangar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Advanced Medical Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Nasser
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Samadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir Mohammad
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Navali
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedy, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Sadegpour
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunolog, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Dariush
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shanehbandi
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran; Umblical Cord Stem Cell Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Jafar Soleimani
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Rad
keywords: Chondron; Co-culture; Nanofiber; Poly-e-caprolactone scaffold