Chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells by controlled delivery of transforming growth factor-beta3

Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) have been shown to differentiate into chondrocytes and form cartilage-like tissues when cultured with TGFbeta3 at 10 ng/ml. Previous attempts to engineer cartilage using hMSC have depended on in vitro pre-differentiation in order to form chondrogenic engineered constructs. Such techniques greatly increase the time of implant fabrication and suffer from loss of phenotype upon withdrawal from chondrogenic medium. The present study investigates a tissue engineered construct that includes sustained delivery of TGFbeta3 and induces differentiation of hMSC into chondrocytes in situ using injectable thermosensitive gels.