Chondrogenic potential of human synovial mesenchymal stem cells in alginate

Abstract

We have demonstrated that synovial MSCs derived from the knee joints of aging human donors possess chondrogenic potential. Under serum-free culturing conditions and in the absence of dexamethasone, BMP-2 and BMP-7 were the most potent inducers of this transformation process.

Cell-based Meniscal Tissue Engineering: A Case for Synoviocytes

“…Kurth documented no effect of IGF-1 alone to promote the increased mRNA signaling for aggrecan or Type II collagen in SMSCs [53]. Likewise, Bilgen and colleagues were not able to demonstrate either an increase in synoviocyte proliferation nor glycosaminoglycan production in response to the growth factor [12].…”

“…Scaffolds may further be defined as ''smart scaffolds'' if they carry with them some type of signal that can direct appropriate tissue formation either from the implanted cell type or from the surrounding resident cellular population. With respect to the delivery of synoviocytes for cartilage (hyaline or fibrocartilage) engineering, a number of different systems have been investigated including hydrogels (alginate [53,66] collagen [51,63,94], and gellan [28]), pellet cultures [63,80], micromasses [3,66], small intestinal submucosa (SIS) [84], hyaluronan-based scaffolds (Hyaff-111; FAB, Abano Terme, Padova, Italy) [56], polyglycolic acid (PGA) [67,74], PGA/poly (L) lactic acid (PLLA) combinations [34], and scaffold-free cell infusions [44,60]. With relatively few studies directly comparing delivery methods, elucidating an optimal carrier or scaffold from the literature alone is difficult.…”

“…However, the surgical applicability of small spheroid pellets is somewhat limited for many large chondral applications. Hence, for articular cartilage, recent developments of a variety of hydrogel carriers that can suspend synoviocytes in three dimensions while filling discrete chondral defects have been investigated [28,51,53,63,66,94]. For meniscal applications, however, the need for tissue regeneration frequently resides in the avascular portion of the tissue, which may not exist as a singular defect with complete borders, thus posing a highly unstable and challenging environment for the surgical implantation of an engineered structure.…”

“…However, relatively few studies have specifically compared the efficacy of the various TGF-b and BMP isoforms with respect to chondrogenic potential. Examining synovial cells seeded three-dimensionally in alginate discs, Kurth and colleagues determined that both BMP-2 and BMP-7 induced chondrogenic differentiation of human synovial MSCs in a dose-dependent manner more potently than TGF-b1 [53]. However, the production of chondral ECM and genetic signaling for aggrecan and Type II collagen were suppressed if either fetal bovine serum (FBS) or dexamethasone were added into the culture media [53].…”

“…Examining synovial cells seeded three-dimensionally in alginate discs, Kurth and colleagues determined that both BMP-2 and BMP-7 induced chondrogenic differentiation of human synovial MSCs in a dose-dependent manner more potently than TGF-b1 [53]. However, the production of chondral ECM and genetic signaling for aggrecan and Type II collagen were suppressed if either fetal bovine serum (FBS) or dexamethasone were added into the culture media [53]. From these results, the authors concluded that FBS contains biologically active agents that interfere with BMP-associated chondrogenic transformation of synovial cells.…”