Cell-based therapy has been explored for articular cartilage regeneration. Autologous chondrocyte implantation is a promising cell-based technique for repairing articular cartilage defects. However, there are several issues such as chondrocyte de-differentiation. While numerous studies have been designed to overcome some of these issues, only a few have focused on the thermal environment that c...

The human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) protein Tat binds to cell surface antigens and can regulate cellular responses. Tat has similar immunosuppressive effects as transforming growth factor-beta (TGF beta) and both inhibit lymphocyte proliferation. TGF beta is expressed by primary human articular chondrocytes and is their most potent growth factor. The present study analyzed the interactio...

BACKGROUND There is a need for tools to predict the chondrogenic potency of autologous cells for cartilage repair. PURPOSE To evaluate previously proposed chondrogenic biomarkers and to identify new biomarkers in the chondrocyte transcriptome capable of predicting clinical success or failure after autologous chondrocyte implantation. STUDY DESIGN Controlled laboratory study and case-control...

Regulatory mechanisms of chondrocyte differentiation in the growth plate are incompletely understood. Here, we find that histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) is located in the nucleus of chondrocytes in the proliferation zone and relocates to the cytoplasm of chondrocytes in the prehypertrophic zone in vivo. This suggests that the relocation of HDAC4 from the nucleus to the cytoplasm may play a role d...

Normal human adult articular chondrocytes were used to determine how the chondrocyte phenotype is modulated by culture conditions following long-term culture. We report here for the first time that human articular chondrocytes have a lifespan in the range of 34-37 population doublings. While chondrocytes cultured as monolayers displayed a fibroblastoid morphology and grew faster, those cultured...

Fetal bovine serum (FBS) has been reported to affect chondrocyte biosynthesis in monolayer culture. Insulin-Transferrin-Selenium (ITS) was investigated as a partial replacement for FBS during in vitro culture of rabbit articular chondrocytes in three-dimensional alginate scaffold. Chondrocyte-seeded alginate hydrogels were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium plus 10% FBS, 1% ITS plus...

BACKGROUND Developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) is an important factor leading to early adult osteoarthritis. Chondrocyte apoptosis has been proven to be an important factor causing osteoarthritis. AIMS The current study aims to explore whether a rabbit model of developmental dysplasia of the hip through cast immobilization in the legs results in chondrocyte apoptosis. STUDY DESIGN Anim...

An analysis of Sox9 binding profiles in developing chondrocytes identified marked enrichment of an AP-1-like motif. Here, we have explored the functional interplay between Sox9 and AP-1 in mammalian chondrocyte development. Among AP-1 family members, Jun and Fosl2 were highly expressed within prehypertrophic and early hypertrophic chondrocytes. Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by DNA sequ...

Articular cartilage is a heterogeneous soft tissue that dissipates and distributes loads in mammalian joints. Though robust, cartilage is susceptible to damage from loading at high rates or magnitudes. Such injurious loads have been implicated in degenerative changes, including chronic osteoarthritis (OA), which remains a leading cause of disability in developed nations. Despite decades of rese...

Gli repressor formation via Protein kinase A (PKA) activation. In the current study, we generated a chondrocyte-specific knockout mouse strain of Suppressor of Fused (Sufu) and demonstrated that loss of Sufu leads to elevated expression of Hh target genes, Gli1 and Patched 1 (Ptch1), in the growth plate. Histological analysis illustrated an increase of proliferating cells and a reduction of the...