Biotechnology Letters, Vol.29, No.10, 1453-1457, 2007
Enhancement of cell proliferation and differentiation by combination of ascorbate and dexamethasone in thermo-reversible hydrogel constructs embedded with rabbit chondrocytes
The effects of inducible materials (dexamethasone and ascorbate) on chondrogenic differentiation of rabbit chondrocytes have been examined. A hydrogel construct containing dexamethasone and ascorbate up-regulated gene expression of the cartilage matrix component of collagen to give three times the collagen content per construct at day 56 as compared to controls. Alcian Blue and Safranin-O staining revealed that these constructs also had formed more hyaline cartilage than other hydrogel constructs.