Influence of three-dimensional culture in a type II collagen sponge on primary cultured and dedifferentiated chondrocytes

. These results show that culture in type II collagen sponges could maintain the chondrocyte phenotype; however, dedifferentiated chondrocytes differentiated to hypertrophic chondrocytes. These finding suggest that the complex of cells and scaffolds with primary cells was more useful than that with dedifferentiated chondrocytes in laboratory and clinical application.