BACKGROUND/AIMS The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of Cx43- and Smad-mediated TGF-β/BMP signaling pathway on the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into cartilage and inhibition of ossification. METHODS BMSCs of Wistar rats were cultured and assigned into 5 groups for transfection with adenoviruses. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reactio...

The field of tissue engineering integrates the principles of engineering, cell biology and medicine towards the regeneration of specific cells and functional tissue. Matrix associated stem cell implants (MASI) aim to regenerate cartilage defects due to arthritic or traumatic joint injuries. Adult mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have the ability to differentiate into cells of the chondrogenic line...

The aim of our study was the evaluation of a cell-free cartilage implant that allows the recruitment of mesenchymal stem and progenitor cells by chemo-attractants and subsequent guidance of the progenitors to form cartilage repair tissue after microfracture. Chemotactic activity of human serum on human mesenchymal progenitors was tested in 96-well chemotaxis assays and chondrogenic differentiat...

Regenerative medicine strategies have increasingly focused on skeletal stem cells (SSCs), in response to concerns such as donor site morbidity, dedifferentiation and limited lifespan associated with the use of articular chondrocytes for cartilage repair. The suitability of SSCs for cartilage regeneration, however, remains to be fully determined. This study has examined the chondrogenic potentia...

BACKGROUND AIMS Stem cell therapies are being evaluated as promising alternatives for cartilage regeneration. We investigated whether stromal vascular fraction cells (SVF) from the infrapatellar (Hoffa) fat pad are suitable for a one-step surgical procedure to treat focal cartilage defects. METHODS SVF was harvested from patients undergoing knee arthroplasty (n = 53). Colony-forming unit (CFU...

Transcription factors SOX9, SOX5 and SOX6 are indispensable for generation and differentiation of chondrocytes. However, molecular mechanisms to induce the SOX genes are poorly understood. To address this issue, we previously determined the human embryonic enhancer of SOX6 by 5'RACE analysis, and identified the 46-bp core enhancer region (CES6). We initially performed yeast one-hybrid assay for...

Temporomandibular joint osteoarthritis (TMJ OA) is a degenerative disease, characterized by progressive cartilage degradation, subchondral bone remodeling, synovitis, and chronic pain. Due to the limited self-healing capacity in condylar cartilage, traditional clinical treatments have limited symptom-modifying and structure-modifying effects to restore impaired cartilage as well as other TMJ ti...

BACKGROUND Hyaline cartilage defects exhibit a major challenge in the field of orthopedic surgery owing to its limited repair capacity. On the other hand, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are regarded as potent cells with a property of cartilage regeneration. We aimed to optimize marrow-derived MSC chondrogenic culture using a small bioactive molecule referred to as BIO. METHODS MSCs from the ma...

The role of Notch signaling in cartilage differentiation and maturation in vivo was examined. Conditional Notch pathway gain and loss of function was achieved using a Cre/loxP approach to manipulate Notch signaling in cartilage precursors and chondrocytes of the developing mouse embryo. Conditional overexpression of activated Notch intracellular domain (NICD) in the chondrocyte lineage results ...