Recent Progress in Stem Cell Chondrogenesis

Significant efforts have been undertaken in the last decade in the development of stem cell-based therapies for cartilage repair. To improve the clinical efficacy of stem cells for articular cartilage repair, understanding the factors and conditions that influence stem cell chondrogenesis in their lineage-specific differentiation and phenotypic stability of the cartilage formation following differentiation would be necessary. In this progress update, we discuss the use of the various sources of stem cells, induction factors including growth factors, oxygen tension and biomaterial scaffolds, and some of the cell-cell/matrix interactions and underlying mechanisms that regulate stem cell chondrogenesis towards stable cartilage formation.