Commitment of human mesenchymal stromal cells to skeletal lineages is independent of their morphogenetic capacity

Figure 3 Mesenchymal stromal cells differentially commit to chondrogenic, osteogenic, and tenogenic lineages in the recombinant limb system. A: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of cartilage (a-e), bone (f), and tendon (g and h) cell fate-regulating genes of the mesenchymal stromal cells-recombinant limbs (MSCs-RLs) at 24 h postimplantation (hpi) relative to its own pellet set to 1.0. Statistical significance comparing MSCs-RLs from the two sources is shown; B: Protein expression pattern of master genes of the three differentiation lineages in MSCs-RLs at 24 hpi. Data represent three independent experiments. Statistical significance was set as follows: ^aP < 0.05; ^bP < 0.005; ^cP < 0.0005; ^dP < 0.0001. For more details see Table 1. Sox9: SRY-box transcription factor 9; Gdf5: Growth differentiation 5; Col2α1: Collagen type 2 alpha 1; Acan: Aggecan; Hif1α: Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha; Runx2: Runt-related transcription factor 2; Scx: Scleraxis; Mkx: Mohawk; UCB: Umbilical cord blood; RL: Recombinant limb; PL: Placenta; NS: Not significant.