Regulation and control of bone marrow stromal cell differentiation towards chondrocytes / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

Adult chondrocytes had been used as seed cells in the previous tissue engineering; however, they possess the weaknesses including the limited proliferative capability in vitro and the liability to aging after amplification. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) are multipotent cells, which can differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, and adipocytes. It is of great importance to study the regulation and control of BMSC directed induction because directed differentiation is required in the tissue engineering. During the BMSC differentiation towards chondrocytes, serious kinds of biological inducing factors participate in precise induction as signal factors. The physical factors, such as biomechanical strength and ultrasound, have been shown to be involved in the regulation of BMSC differentiation towards chondrocytes. In terms of tissue repair, apart from biological factors which play an important role in the formation of cartilage tissue, the chondrocyte microenvironment in vivo is indispensable. Bioreactor is a kind of device intended for in vitro tissue culture that incubates the cells or tissues taken from living bodies in simulated physiological environment in vivo. On the basis of original cell culture, the present bioreactors apply biomechanical stimulation to simulate the stressed environment of articular cartilage in vivo.