(685d) Bioactive Cues That Influence Mesenchymal Stem Cell Differentiation for Use in Cartilage Tissue Engineering

Osteoarthritis is characterized by degradation of articular cartilage, and there is a large need for long-lasting and minimally invasive cartilage replacements. One promising approach for cartilage regeneration is to use the patient's own bone marrow-derived stem cells (MSCs) and seed them in an artificial protein scaffold embedded with bioactive differentiation cues. This method could allow MSCs seeded on the scaffold to be directly implanted, which reduces ex vivo culturing time. In addition, this technique could lead to the development of materials with spatially patterned differentiation cues, which would aid in the development of complex tissues such as osteochondral grafts.

We are performing screening experiments to identify bioactive domains that direct or influence MSC differentiation towards cartilage cell fates. Pellet cultures adapted for a 96-well plate are used to evaluate the efficacy of agonist peptides derived from growth factors. DNA content and production of cartilage-specific extracellular matrix proteins such as sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are monitored at multiple time points. In the future, these peptide sequences will be incorporated within protein-based scaffolds specifically designed for application in cartilage engineering.