ABSTRACT
Background: Osteoarthritis is one of the most common diseases in middle-aged populations in the World and could become the fourth principal cause of disability by the year 2020. One of the critical properties for cartilage tissue engineering [TE] is the ability of scaffolds to closely mimic the extracellular matrix and bond to the host tissue. Therefore, TE has been presented as a technique to introduce the best combination of cells and biomaterial scaffold and to stimulate growth factors to produce a cartilage tissue resembling natural articular cartilage. The aim of study is to improve differentiation of adipose derived stem cells [ADSCs] into chondrocytes in order to provide a safe and modern treatment for patients suffering from cartilage damages
Methods: After functionalization, dispersions and sterilizing carbon nano-tubes [CNTs], a new type of nanocomposite gel was prepared from water-soluble CNTs and alginate. ADSCs seeded in 1.5% alginate scaffold and cultured in chondrogenic media with and without transforming growth factor-beta1 [TGF-beta1] for 7 and 14 days. The genes expression of sex determining region Y-box 9 [SOX9], types II and X collagens was assessed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and the amount of aggrecan [AGC] and type I collagen was measured by ELISA
Results: Our findings showed that the expression of essential cartilage markers, SOX9, type II collagen and AGC, in differentiated ADSCs at the concentration of 1 microg/ml CNTs in the presence of TGF-beta1 were significantly increased in comparison with the control group [P < 0.001]. Meanwhile, type X collagen expression and also type I collagen production were significantly decreased [P < 0.001]
Conclusions: The results showed that utilized three-dimensional scaffold had a brilliant effect in promoting gene expression of chondrogenesis