Table 1.
Candidate genes to enhance chondrogenesis in MSCs and dedifferentiated chondrocytes.
| Overexpressed factor | Cell type | Outcome | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| TGFβ-1 | Human bone marrow derived MSCs, rabbit bone marrow MSCs | Enhanced chondrogenic differentiation through Smad signalling, downregulation of sonic hedgehog signalling | [19, 20] [48, 82] |
| BMP-2 | Human bone marrow derived MSCs, perichondrial/periosteal cells, and adipose derived stem cells | Enhanced chondrogenesis driven by Sox9 activated collagen II and aggrecan synthesis, accelerated chondrocyte hypertrophy | [43, 44] [19, 20] [45] |
| TGFβ-3 | Rat adipose derived stem cells, porcine synovium derived MSCs | Enhanced chondrogenic potential and high resistance to fibro cartilage formation | [8, 83, 84] |
| BMP-7 | Equine chondrocytes | Early onset of cartilage specific matrix synthesis, resistance to chondrocyte hypertrophy | [18, 46] |
| IGF-1 | Rabbit articular chondrocytes, human bone marrow derived MSCs | Chondrocyte proliferation, enhanced wound healing potential in osteochondral defects, enhanced extracellular matrix synthesis | [53–55] [19, 20] [56, 57, 60] |
| FGF-2 | Rabbit articular chondrocytes | High rate of cell proliferation, enhanced collagen II expression and formation of fibrocartilage | [58–60] |
| SMAD-3 | Human MSCs | Activation of Sox9 resulting in collagen II over expression | [33, 34] |
| SOX-9 | Mouse MSCs, human chondrocytes (normal and osteoarthritic), human bone marrow derived MSCs | Binding to col2a1 enhancer increases collagen II synthesis | [6, 32, 35, 36, 39–41, 65] |
| BARX-2 | Mouse embryonic MSCs | Cell aggregation, association with Sox9 to bind and enhance collagen II expression | [42] |
| Klf4/c-Myc | Mouse dermal fibroblast, human dermal fibroblasts | Direct differentiation of dermal fibroblast to chondrocytes with high expression of articular chondrocyte phenotype | [22, 63] |
| hTeRT | Human chondrocytes, human placenta derived MSCs, human bone marrow derived MSCs, | Enhanced cell proliferation while maintaining the capacity for chondrogenic differentiation | [64, 66–69] |
| IL-1Ra | Human synovial fibroblast | Reduction in inflammation in joint capsule | [7] |