Proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells in sodium alginate beads with or without hyaluronic acid

Abstract

Human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (AD-MSCs) have attracted much interest as an alternative to autologous chondrocytes and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells for cell-based therapy to repair cartilage defects. Sodium alginate (SA) beads have been widely known as a conventional stem cell delivery system for cartilage repair. Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been known to induce cell proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation. Herein, we prepared AD-MSCs-encapsulating SA beads with HA (SA–HA beads) and without HA (SA beads). Then, the morphology, proliferation, and chondrogenic differentiation of AD-MSCs cultured in SA–HA beads or SA beads with a conventional chondrogenic media were evaluated. There was no discernible difference in the morphology of AD-MSCs between SA–HA and SA beads. However, the proliferation (MTT optical density and DNA contents) and chondrogenic differentiation (s-GAG contents and type II collagen staining) of AD-MSCs were significantly enhanced in SA–HA beads as compared to SA beads. The present results suggest that HA can be added to SA beads-based cell delivery systems of AD-MSCs in order to improve their chondrogenesis-inducing capacity for repair of cartilage defects.