Trophic Effects of Mesenchymal Stem Cells in Chondrocyte Co-Cultures are Independent of Culture Conditions and Cell Sources

作者：Ling Wu, Henk‐Jan Prins, Marco N. Helder, Clemens van Blitterswijk, Marcel Karperien · 发表于：Tissue Engineering Part A · 年份：2012 · DOI：10.1089/ten.tea.2011.0715 · 被引用次数：203 · 研究领域：Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms、Mesenchymal stem cell research、Periodontal Regeneration and Treatments

Earlier, we have shown that the increased cartilage production in pellet co-cultures of chondrocytes and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) is due to a trophic role of the MSC in stimulating chondrocyte proliferation and matrix production rather than MSCs actively undergoing chondrogenic differentiation. These studies were performed in a culture medium that was not compatible with the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. In this study, we tested whether the trophic role of the MSCs is dependent on culturing co-culture pellets in a medium that is compatible with the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. In addition, we investigated whether the trophic role of the MSCs is dependent on their origins or is a more general characteristic of MSCs. Human BM-MSCs and bovine primary chondrocytes were co-cultured in a medium that was compatible with the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. Enhanced matrix production was confirmed by glycosaminoglycans (GAG) quantification. A species-specific quantitative polymerase chain reaction demonstrated that the cartilage matrix was mainly of bovine origin, indicative of a lack of the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. In addition, pellet co-cultures were overgrown by bovine cells over time. To test the influence of origin on MSCs' trophic effects, the MSCs isolated from adipose tissue and the synovial membrane were co-cultured with human primary chondrocytes, and their activity was compared with BM-MSCs, which served as con...