Abstract

Articular cartilage functions as a shock absorber and facilitates the free movement of joints. Currently, there are no therapeutic drugs that promote the healing of damaged articular cartilage. Limitations associated with the two clinically relevant cell populations, human articular chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells, necessitate finding an alternative cell source for cartilage repair. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) provide a readily accessible population of self-renewing, pluripotent cells with perceived immunoprivileged properties for cartilage generation. We have developed a robust method to generate 3D, scaffold-free, hyaline cartilage tissue constructs from hESCs that are composed of numerous chondrocytes in lacunae, embedded in an extracellular matrix containing Type II collagen, sulphated glycosaminoglycans and Aggrecan. The elastic (Young’s) modulus of the hESC-derived cartilage tissue constructs (0.91 ± 0.08 MPa) was comparable to full-thickness human articular cartilage (0.87 ± 0.09 MPa). Moreover, we have successfully scaled up the size of the scaffold-free, 3D hESC-derived cartilage tissue constructs to between 4.5 mm and 6 mm, thus enhancing their suitability for clinical application.

Details

Title
A scaffold-free approach to cartilage tissue generation using human embryonic stem cells
Author
Griffith, Lauren A 1 ; Arnold, Katherine M 2 ; Sengers, Bram G 3 ; Tare, Rahul S 1 ; Houghton, Franchesca D 1 

 University of Southampton, Centre for Human Development, Stem Cells and Regeneration, Duthie Building (MP 808), Southampton General Hospital, School of Human Development and Health, Faculty of Medicine, Southampton, UK (GRID:grid.5491.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9297); University of Southampton, Institute for Life Sciences, Southampton, UK (GRID:grid.5491.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9297) 
 University of Southampton, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Southampton, UK (GRID:grid.5491.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9297) 
 University of Southampton, Institute for Life Sciences, Southampton, UK (GRID:grid.5491.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9297); University of Southampton, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Southampton, UK (GRID:grid.5491.9) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9297) 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2576854195
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.