Polyethylene glycol modified PAMAM dendrimer delivery of kartogenin to induce chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells

PAMAM dendrimer decorated with PEG was used for the delivery of kartogenin (KGN) to mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). We synthesized and compared two different KGN-PAMAM conjugates based on the hypothesis that drug binding position might affect the chondrogenic differentiation efficacy. The result of immunostaining showed that the expression of collagen Π, a key component of the cartilage matrix, was higher in the KGN-PEG-PAMAM group than in the PEG-PAMAM-KGN, suggesting enhanced chondrogenesis of MSCs.339