Chondrogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells induced by synovial fluid in vitro

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the potential to differentiate into distinct mesenchymal tissues including cartilage, which suggest these cells as an attractive cell source for cartilage tissue engineering approaches. Our objective was to study the effects of synovial fluid on chondrogenic differentiation of human MSCs in monolayer and micromass cultures. The cells in passage 2 were induced into chondrogenic differentiation with different concentration of synovial fluid (0,100,150 and 200 μl/ml. Differentiation along the chondrogenic lineage was documented by Sox9 and type II collagen expression for 21 days. The expression of the identified genes was confirmed by RT-PCR. RT-PCR showed that synovial fluid could promote expression of Sox9 and collagen II mRNA in an dose-dependant manner, especially at the concentration of 150 and 200 μl/ml. In summary, synovial fluid induce chondrogenesis of human mesenchymalstem cells, which encourage tissue engineering applications of MSC in chondral defects, as the natural environment in the joint is favorable for chodrogenic differentiation.