Dichotomous SMAD2/3 regulation and selective antihypertrophic activity of heparin during in vitro chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stromal cells
Taken together, heparin-TGF-β showed a novel dichotomous SMAD2/3 inhibition at maintained chondrogenic differentiation and context-dependent lineage-instructive properties-permitting endochondral commitment in vitro but chondral development in vivo. Thus, environmental contributions are mandatory to allow heparin-PEG-guided chondral versus endochondral lineage commitment of MSCs in vivo, potentially involving SMAD1/5/9 suppressors and PGE2 sources.
Authors
- Eliane Hesse (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0058-4619)
- Wiltrud Richter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4694-2768)
- Felicia A. M. Klampfleuthner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-2684-6890)
- Safak Chasan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7558-6032)
- Helen F. Dietmar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8409-3221)
- Solvig Diederichs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2527-9517)
- Uwe Freudenberg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1359-1095)
- Tilman Walker
- Sven Schmidt
Institutions
- Heidelberg University (DE)
- University Hospital Heidelberg (DE)
- Max Bergmann Zentrum für Biomaterialien (DE)
- Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Cellular & Molecular Biology Letters
- Published
- 2026-03-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s11658-026-00899-8
- Primary Topic
- Osteoarthritis Treatment and Mechanisms
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00