small molecule-bio accelerates and enhances marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell in vitro chondrogenesis

background: hyaline cartilage defects exhibit a major challenge in the field of orthopedic surgery owing to its limited repair capacity. on the other hand, mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) are regarded as potent cells with a property of cartilage regeneration. we aimed to optimize marrow-derived msc chondrogenic culture using a small bioactive molecule referred to as bio. methods: mscs from the marrow of nmri mice were extracted, culture-expanded, and characterized. micro-mass culture was then established for chondrogenic differentiation (control group). the cultures of msc in chondrogenic medium supplemented with 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 1 µm bio were taken as the experimental groups. cartilage differentiation was examined by both histological sections and real-time pcr for sox9, aggrecan, and collagen ii at different time points. moreover, the involvement of the wnt pathway was investigated. results: based on histological sections, there was seemingly more intense metachromatic matrix produced in the cultures with 0.01 µm bio. in this experimental group, cartilage-specific genes tended to be upregulated at day 14 compared to day 21 of the control group, indicating the accelerating effect of bio on cartilage differentiation. overall, there was statistically a significant increase (p=0.01) in the expression level of cartilage-specific genes in cultures with 0.01 µm bio (enhancing effects). these upregulations appeared to be mediated through the wnt pathway evident from the significant upregulation of t-cell factor and beta-catenin molecules (p=0.01). conclusion: taken together, bio at 0.01 µm could accelerate and enhance in vitro chondrogenesis of mouse marrow-derived mscs.