Influence of Cell Seeding Density and Material Stiffness on Chondrogenesis of Human Stem Cells Within Soft Hydrogels, Without the Use of Exogenous Growth Factors.
De Mori A., Aydin N., Lostia G., Manca A., Blunn G., Roldo M.
Laboratory Study, published in Gels (2025) — summary generated from the PubMed abstract.
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
- Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
- Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
- Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
- Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
- Emerging · Emerging topic under active research
This page is generated from the PubMed record. The Thai description is an automated summary of bibliographic fields and the abstract, not a full translation, and is not medical advice.
- Study type
- Laboratory Study
- Journal
- Gels (2025)
- Country
- Switzerland
- Reported sample size
- —
- Source database
- PubMed
- PMID
- 40136918
- PMCID
- PMC11941925
- DOI
- 10.3390/gels11030213
- Citations
- 6
Abstract (original English)
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) can differentiate into chondrocytes provided with the appropriate environmental cues. In this study, we loaded human adipose-derived stem cells (hAdMSCs) into collagen/alginate hydrogels, which have been shown to induce chondrogenesis in ovine bone marrow stem cells without the use of any exogenous chondrogenic growth factors. We examined the influence of hydrogel stiffness (5.75 and 6.85 kPa) and cell seeding density (1, 2, 4, and 16 × 10 6 cells/mL) on the chondrogenic induction of hAdMSCs, without exogenous differentiation growth factors. Over time, the behaviour of the hAdMSCs in the scaffolds was investigated by analysing the amount of DNA; their morphology; their cell viability; the expression of chondrogenic genes (RT-qPCR); and the deposition of collagen I, collagen II, and aggrecan. The results showed that all scaffolds supported the acquisition of a rounded morphology and the formation of cell aggregates, which were larger with higher cell seeding densities. Furthermore, the cells were viable within the hydrogels throughout the experiment, indicating that high cell density did not have a detrimental effect on viability. All the conditions supported the upregulation of chondrogenic genes (SOX9, COL2A1, SOX5, and ACAN). By comparison, only the highest cell seeding density (16 × 10 6 cells/mL) promoted a superior extracellular matrix deposit
What this study does not prove
- • This study does not prove SVF is an approved treatment or a replacement for standard care.
- • This is preclinical work; animal or laboratory results cannot be applied to humans.
Evidence level
Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.
How we grade evidenceBrowse all related research
Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.