RESUMO
Vitro cartilage differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells [MSCs] has been noticed in several investigations. In this regard, almost always molecular differentiation of the cells has been examined, while structural and morphological differentiation of them has been ignored. Therefore, the present study examines the structure and ultrastructure of the cartilage differentiated from murine MSCs compared with that of costal cartilage. 2x 10[5] MSCs isolated from the bone marrow of NMRI mice were pleted by centrifugation and cultured for 21 days in chondrogenic medium. At the end of cultivation period, occurrence of chondrogenic differentiation was confirmed by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR] analysis for some cartilage-specific genes. To compare the structure of differentiated tissue with that of natural cartilage, the cartilage was differentiated from MSCs and the cartilage obtained from the same murine rib was prepared for transmission electron microscopy [TEM]. Structural studies indicated that similar to the costal cartilage, the cartilage produced from differentiation of perichondrium-like layer was formed. According to the microscopic images, in contrast to costal chondrocytes, the differentiated cells had euchromatic nucleus and their cytoplasm contained plenty of the organelles involved in active cell secretion. Furthermore, intercellular matrix in differentiated cartilage had a fibrillar appearance. Our results indicated that the structure of cartilage produced in micro mass culture system is somewhat different from that of costal cartilage. The cells from differentiated tissue seemed to be more active than those from costal cartilage