Chondrocyte transplantation to articular cartilage explants in vitro

Abstract

The efficiency of the transplantation of bovine chondrocytes onto articular cartilage disks was determined. The ability of transplanted chondrocytes to subsequently synthesize and deposit proteoglycan was also examined. With the use of radiolabeled chondrocytes for quantification, the efficiency of transplantation into a cartilage substrate was 93±4% for seeding densities of as much as 650,000 cells per cm2 and a seeding duration of 1 h. During the 16 h after seeding, the transplanted cells synthesized sulfated proteoglycan in direct proportion to the number of cells seeded. The transplanted cells retained the chondrocyte phenotype.