%0 Journal Article
%T Induction of superficial zone protein (SZP)/lubricin/PRG 4 in muscle-derived mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells by transforming growth factor-¦Â1 and bone morphogenetic protein-7
%A Jos¨¦ A Andrades
%A Shirley C Motaung
%A Pedro Jim¨¦nez-Palomo
%A Silvia Claros
%A Jos¨¦ M L¨®pez-Puerta
%A Jos¨¦ Becerra
%A Thomas M Schmid
%A A Hari Reddi
%J Arthritis Research & Therapy
%D 2012
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/ar3793
%X MDMSCs were cultured as a monolayer at a density of 1 ¡Á 105 cells/well in 12-well tissue culture plates. Cell cultures were treated for 3, 7 and 10 days with TGF-¦Â1 and BMP-7. The medium was analyzed for SZP. The cells were used to isolate RNA for RT-PCR assays for SZP expression.The SZP/lubricin increased in a time-dependent manner on Days 3, 7 and 10 in the medium. As early as Day 3, there was a three-fold increase in response to 3 ng/ml of TGF-¦Â1 and 300 ng/ml of BMP-7. This was confirmed by immunochemical localization of SZP as early as Day 3 after treatment with TGF-¦Â1. The expression of SZP mRNA was enhanced by TGF-¦Â1.The present investigation demonstrated the efficient and reproducible induction of SZP/lubricin accumulation by TGF-¦Â1 and BMP-7 in skeletal MDMSCs. Optimization of the experimental conditions may permit the utility of MDMSCs in generating surface zone-like cells with phenotypic markers of AC and, therefore, constitute a promising cell source for tissue engineering approaches of superficial zone cartilage.Articular cartilage (AC) is an avascular tissue with feeble regeneration potential, possibly because of the lack of vasculature, the innate mechanisms of tissue repair by humoral factors, and recruitment of stem/progenitor cells does not occur [1]. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common degenerative joint disease affecting the AC in aged individuals. Currently there are limited treatment options, other than total joint replacement. However, smaller injuries to AC in younger patients can be treated with cell-based therapies, such as autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) or bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) transplantation [2,3].Muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MDMSCs) are a potentially useful source of cells for the induction of synthesis and secretion of superficial zone protein (SZP), a characteristic marker of the surface zone of the AC. In view of the location, accessibility and great expandability, MDMSCs are a promising cel
%U http://arthritis-research.com/content/14/2/R72