Chondroinduction of mouse mesenchymal stem cells in three-dimensional highly porous matrix scaffolds

Porous polyvinyl formal (PVF) resin and poly(lactide-caprolactone) [P(LA/CL)] sponges were examined as three-dimensional matrices for chondroinduction of cultured bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Approximately 5 x 10(5) mouse MSCs were seeded in porous PVF resin or P(LA/CL) sponges and were cultured for up to 1 month in serum-free high-glucose Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium containing 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor-beta3 and 100 nM dexamethasone for chondroinduction. After the 1-month culture period, the PVF resin and P(LA/CL) sponges contained approximately twice the amount of glycosaminoglycans compared with the control pellet. Safranin-O staining of PVF and P(LA/CL) after 1 month of culture revealed a cartilage-like extracellular matrix containing glycosaminoglycans and collagen. When implanted into nude mice, PVF and P(LA/CL) seeded with MSCs were found to be both biocompatible and chondroinductive. These highly porous scaffolds can maintain a large number of cells in a three-dimensional structure. Both are potentially promising for the chondroinduction of bone marrow MSCs for research and clinical applications.