Mesenchymal stem cells derived from synovium, meniscus, anterior cruciate ligament, and articular chondrocytes share similar gene expression profiles

Abstract

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can be obtained from various tissues, and contain common features. However, an increasing number of reports have described variant properties dependent of cell sources. We examined (1) whether MSCs existed in several intraarticular tissues, (2) whether gene expression profiles in intraarticular tissue MSCs closely resembled each other, and (3) whether identified genes were specific to intraarticular tissue MSCs. Human synovium, meniscus, intraarticular ligament, muscle, adipose tissue, and bone marrow were harvested, and colony-forming cells were analyzed. All these cells showed multipotentiality and surface markers typical of MSCs. Gene profiles of intraarticular tissue MSCs and chondrocytes were closer to each other than those of extraarticular tissues MSCs. Among three characteristic genes specific for intraarticular tissue MSCs, we focused on proline arginine-rich end leucine-rich repeat protein (PRELP). Higher expression of PRELP was confirmed in chondrocytes and intraarticular tissue MSCs among three elderly and three young donors. Synovium MSCs stably expressed PRELP, contrarily, bone marrow MSCs increased PRELP expression during in vitro chondrogenesis. In conclusion, MSCs could be isolated from various intraarticular tissues including meniscus and ligament, gene expression profiles of intraarticular tissue MSCs closely resembled each other, and the higher expression of PRELP was characteristic of intraarticular tissue MSCs. ß

Expansion in the presence of FGF-2 enhances the functional development of cartilaginous tissues engineered using infrapatellar fat pad derived MSCs

“…Previous investigations using MSCs isolated from various tissues have shown they generate tissues with inferior mechanical properties compared to articular chondrocytes similarly maintained in 3D culture (Mauck et al 2006;Huang et al 2009;Vinardell et al 2009;Vinardell et al 2010). Although MSCs derived from intra-articular joint tissues are more phenotypically similar to chondrocytes (Segawa et al 2009), we have shown that functionally they are still inferior to chondrocytes . Therefore identifying expansion and differentiation conditions that promote a more chondrogenic phenotype is critical to enhancing their utility for cartilage tissue engineering applications.…”

“…One of the key challenges in cartilage tissue engineering is ensuring sufficient functionality of the construct to be implanted which is capable of withstanding the challenging mechanical environment of the joint. MSCs and chondrocytes have been shown to be phenotypically different (Segawa et al 2009), and one implication of this may be that they synthesise different amounts of key proteoglycans such as glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and proteins such as collagens (predominantly Type II) that provide mechanical stability. Previous investigations using MSCs isolated from various tissues have shown they generate tissues with inferior mechanical properties compared to articular chondrocytes similarly maintained in 3D culture (Mauck et al 2006;Huang et al 2009;Vinardell et al 2009;Vinardell et al 2010).…”

Anterior cruciate ligament-derived cells have high chondrogenic potential

“…Several tissue-derived MSCs, such as bone marrow [10], synovium [11], adipose [12], ligament [13], cartilage, and meniscus [14] have identified as a source of regeneration for damaged tissue. However, attached colony forming cells are commonly characterized as tissue-derived MSCs.…”

“…However, attached colony forming cells are commonly characterized as tissue-derived MSCs. Colony forming rate of tissue-derived cells is quite different among various mesenchymal tissues [14]. In blastema-induced limb regeneration, undifferentiated progenitors keep a memory of their tissue origin and have restricted potential without complete dedifferentiation to a pluripotent state [15].…”

Changes in chondrogenic phenotype and gene expression profiles associated with the in vitro expansion of human synovium‐derived cells

“…9,10 Sakaguchi et al 11 demonstrated the superiority of synovium as a source of MSCs for clinical applications. Segawa et al 12 showed gene profiles of synovium MSC, and chondrocytes were closer to each other than those of extraarticular tissue MSC such as BM-MSCs.…”