%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of nitrogen-rich cell culture surfaces on type X collagen expression by bovine growth plate chondrocytes
%A Alain Petit
%A Caroline N Demers
%A Pierre-Luc Girard-Lauriault
%A Dorothy Stachura
%A Michael R Wertheimer
%A John Antoniou
%A Fackson Mwale
%J BioMedical Engineering OnLine
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1475-925x-10-4
%X In the present study, we examined the expression of type X collagen in fetal bovine growth plate chondrocytes (containing hypertrophic chondrocytes) cultured on PPE:N. We also studied the effect of PPE:N on the expression of matrix molecules such as type II collagen and aggrecan, as well as on proteases (matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) and molecules implicated in cell division (cyclin B2). Two other culture surfaces, "hydrophilic" polystyrene (PS, regular culture dishes) and nitrogen-containing cation polystyrene (Primaria£¿), were also investigated for comparison.Results showed that type X collagen mRNA levels were suppressed when cultured for 4 days on PPE:N, suggesting that type X collagen is regulated similarly in hypertrophic chondrocytes and in human MSCs from OA patients. However, the levels of type X collagen mRNA almost returned to control value after 20 days in culture on these surfaces. Culture on the various surfaces had no significant effects on type II collagen, aggrecan, MMP-13, and cyclin B2 mRNA levels.Hypertrophy is diminished by culturing growth plate chondrocytes on nitrogen-rich surfaces, a mechanism that is beneficial for MSC chondrogenesis. Furthermore, one major advantage of such "intelligent surfaces" over recombinant growth factors for tissue engineering and cartilage repair is potentially large cost-saving.Endochondral ossification involves the expression of type X collagen, a marker of chondrocyte hypertrophy [1-3]. Recent evidence indicates that a major drawback of current cartilage- and disc-tissue engineering is that human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from osteoarthritic (OA) patients express type X collagen [4]. We have shown that synthetic polymer surfaces created by glow discharge plasma can suppress the expression of genes associated with hypertrophy in committed human MSCs from OA patients [5-7]. However, little is known about the effect of different culture surfaces on gene expression in the case of growth plate chondrocytes
%U http://www.biomedical-engineering-online.com/content/10/1/4