Collagen gene expression during chondrogenesis from chick periosteum-derived cells

Chick periosteum-derived cells, which do not enter the chondrogenic cell lineage during normal bone development and growth, exhibit chondrogenic potential in high cell density culture conditions. In such cultures, collagen gene expression was temporally analyzed at the mRNA level by a reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) procedure, which showed that alpha 1(II) and alpha 1(IX) collagen mRNAs are coordinately increased, coincident with the onset of overt chondrogenesis, and subsequently decreased as chondrocytes exhibited hypertrophic characteristics. alpha 1(X) collagen mRNA was detected well before the onset of chondrogenesis and markedly increased along with the hypertrophic change. For alpha 2(I) collagen, both the bone/tendon form and the cartilage form of mRNA were detected throughout the culture period. This culture system provides an experimental vehicle capable of investigating the molecular events involved in the full range of chondrogenic differentiation starting from uncommitted periosteum-derived mesenchymal stem cells.