Isolation and identification of stem cells in different subtype of cartilage tissue

Abstract

Background: Cartilage tissue engineering provided a promising therapy for the repair of cartilage defects, and seeding cells play a vital role in cartilage regeneration. Chondrocytes and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were reported to be the ideal seeding cells, but ‘dedifferentiation’ and ‘unstable phenotype’ of tissue-engineered cartilage constructed by the two cell type hamper their clinical application. Recently, cartilage tissue was reported to possess a stem cell population, which may be a more superior cell source in cartilage tissue engineering.Methods: In current study, we isolated a cell population from different subtype of cartilage tissue via a differential adhesion assay to fibronectin.Results: Flow cytometry analysis demonstrates the cell lines expressed mesenchyme stem cell positive surface marker such as CD29 and CD90. Meanwhile, the cells are highly proliferative and multipotent. Reverse transcription–PCR detection showed the cell population expressed osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation under different induction conditions. More interesting, monolayer cells underwent chondrogenic differentiation in the presence of dexamethasone and insulin-like growth factor 1. In addition, the expression of chondrogenic genes in cartilage-derived stem cells (CSCs) was higher than those in BMSCs.Conclusion: CSC may become an ideal seeding cell in cartilage tissue engineering, owing to its stemness and chondrogenic characteristics.