Effect of ascorbic acid on obtaining chondrogenic pre-differentiated mesenchymal stem/stromal cells

Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) have unique functional properties, one of which is the chondrogenic differentiation. This population of cells is being used in clinical practice for repairing cartilage tissue. Various combinations of growth factors promote the expression of markers of hyaline cartilage, but also induce hypertrophy’s markers. There is evidence that ascorbic acid can promote chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs by increasing the transcription of Col2 , so we have studied when adding ascorbic acid to the differentiation medium to the previously developed cytokine cocktail in order to obtain a hyaline-like matrix. There is a different time of induction of chondrogenesis in MSCs, so we assumed to reduce the induction period of chondrogenic pre-differentiation of MSCs. Based on our studies we confirmed a positive effect of ascorbic acid on the expression of Col2 , which indicates the possibility of obtaining strong and stable chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs. The analysis of the expression of genes-markers of chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs and the synthesis of extracellular matrix components on the 4th and 7th days showed a possibility of reducing the pre-differentiation period to 4 days.