Low-Intensity Ultrasound (LIUS) as an Innovative Tool for Chondrogenesis of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs)

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have a capacity to differentiate into the chondrogenic lineage and are a valuable allogenic source for cartilage tissue engineering. However, they still have critical limitations of relatively inefficient chondrogenic differentiation in vitro and of dedifferentiation and/or hypertrophic changes at late stages of differentiation. Numerous approaches using biochemical and mechanical factors have been tried but have so far failed to overcome these problems. Recent studies by other groups and ours have shown that low-intensity ultrasound (LIUS) is an efficient tool for promoting the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs both in vitro and in vivo. A series of our experiments suggests that LIUS not only induces chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs but also has diverse additional activities that enhance the viability of MSCs, increase possibly the integrity of the differentiated tissues and delays hypertrophic changes during differentiation. Therefore, LIUS could be an innovative and versatile tool for chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs and for cartilage tissue engineering.

Low-Intensity Pulsed Ultrasound Promotes Chondrogenic Progenitor Cell Migration via Focal Adhesion Kinase Pathway

“…(Parvizi et al 1999; Zhang et al 2002; Zhang et al 2003; Ebisawa et al 2004; Schumann et al 2006; Cui et al 2007; Park et al 2007; Korstjens et al 2008; Khanna et al 2009; Gurkan et al 2010; Lai et al 2010; Naito et al 2010). Whether repopulation improves cartilage repair depends on the ability of CPCs to re-establish a functional cartilage matrix in situ , which remains unproven.…”

“…These studies have shown that LIPUS stimulates cartilage anabolism by enhancing the production of matrix molecules including proteoglycan and collagen (Parvizi et al 1999; Zhang et al 2002; Zhang et al 2003; Korstjens et al 2008; Khanna et al 2009; Naito et al 2010). In addition, LIPUS has been proven to attenuate the progression of cartilage degradation in vivo and has been proposed as a tool to induce mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to differentiate into articular chondrocytes (Ebisawa et al 2004; Schumann et al 2006; Cui et al 2007; Park et al 2007; Gurkan et al 2010; Lai et al 2010). However, progress in understanding the mechanism of these benefits has been slow.…”

The chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells on an extracellular matrix scaffold derived from porcine chondrocytes

“…Stained images both of whole samples (20Â) and at high magnification (200Â) are presented. Scale bars ¼ 1 mm for 20Â and microenvironment, such as the use of particular scaffolds or some form of mechanical stimulation, might be able to replace the role of TGF-b [46]. The ECM scaffold in this study was synthesized naturally from porcine chondrocytes and could not be optimized in its physicochemical properties, such as exact composition, mechanical strength, pore size and porosity.…”

Stem Cell Therapy for Cartilage Defects

“…Mechanical stimulation using low intensity ultrasound, in conjunction with a variety of growth factors, scaffolds and stimulants has also shown to enhance chondrogenesis (Choi et al 2013;Lai et al 2010;Park et al 2007;Lee et al 2007). Such non-invasive and relatively low-cost methods that have been shown to enhance of potential action of MSCs may provide an additional option in the treating physician's armoury.…”