Repairing articular cartilage defect of the knee joint by synovial mesenchymal stem cells and chondrocytes

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2017.09.018

Abstract：BACKGROUND: As is known to all, it is difficult to repair cartilage defect of the knee joint. Fortunately, it isreported that a chitosan scaffold with the mixture of synovial mesenchymal stem cells and chondrocytes enablesthe formation of cartilage matrix.OBJECTIVE: To observe the chondrogenic differentiation of synovial mesenchymal stem cells co-cultured withchondrocytes on a chitosan/type Ⅰ collagen composite scaffold after being transplanted into an animal model. METHODS: The synovial mesenchymal stem cells and chondrocytes harvested from the knee joint of Sprague-Dawleyrats were co-cultured at a ratio of 1:2 on the chitosan/type Ⅰ collagen composite scaffolds and transplanted into the defectsite of the knee joint in rat models of cartilage defect of the knee joint.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: After 4, 8, 12 weeks, the hematoxylin-eosin staining, the toluidine blue staining ofaggrecan, and safranine O staining showed that there were increasing chondrocytes in the rat knee joint. Theimmunohistochemical staining of type Ⅱ collagen showed the positive expression of type Ⅱ collagen in the cartilagetissues and extracellular matrix of the knee joint. To conclude, the combination of two kinds of cells cultured in thechitosan/type Ⅱ collagen composite scaffold can form cartilage-like tissues in vivo, and improve the quality of cartilagerepair.