Functional cartilage repair capacity of de-differentiated, chondrocyte- and mesenchymal stem cell-laden hydrogels in vitro

Chondrocyte expansion and de-differentiation impaired the cell response, resulting in inferior cartilage repair in vitro. With TGF-β3 pre-treatment, MSCs were able to undergo sustained chondrogenic differentiation and exhibited superior matrix deposition and integration compared to de-differentiated chondrocytes.