Sulfation patterns of exogenous chondroitin sulfate affect chondrogenic differentiation of ATDC5 cells

Conclusions ATDC5 cells produced four different monosulfated or disulfated disaccharides in their extracellular matrices. The sulfation patterns of exogenously added CS affected chondrogenic differentiation of ATDC5 cells. In particular, CS-E rich in disulfated disaccharides significantly promoted chondrogenic differentiation of ATDC5 cells. Thus, CS containing this disulfated structure may be a useful scaffold component for enhancing chondrogenesis in cartilage tissue engineering.