Abstract
Recently, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been the most explored cells for cell therapy for osteoarthritis (OA) that can be obtained from various sources. Synovial membrane MSCs (SMMSCs) provide best potential for OA therapy, however they are not widely explored. Conditioned medium of SMMSCs (SMMSCs-CM) rich in growth factors and cytokines can inhibit apoptosis and increase chondrocytes cell proliferation. The aim of the present study was to determine growth factors content in SMMSCs-CM as well as the chondrogenic and chondroprotective markers expression in OA model after insulin-like growth factor (IGF)1-induced and non-induced SMMSCs-CM treatments. Chondrocyte cell line (CHON002) was induced by IL1β as OA model (CHON002 with IL1β (IL1β-CHON002)) and treated with SMMSCs-CM with or without IGF1 induction to determine its effectiveness in repairing OA cells model. ELISA was used to assay BMP2, fibroblast growth factor 18 (FGF18) and transforming growth factor (TGF) β1 (TGFβ1) levels in SMMSCs-CM, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 13 (MMP13) and a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motif 4 (ADAMTS4) levels in OA cells model treated with SMMSCs-CM. RT-qPCR analyses were used to investigate the gene expression of SOX9, COL2, and COL10. CM from SMMSCs cultured and induced by IGF1 150 ng/mL was the most effective concentration for increasing the content of growth factor markers of SMMSCs-CM, which had successfully increased negative cartilage hypertrophy markers (SOX9 and COL2) and reduced hypertrophy markers (COL10, MMP13, and ADAMTS4). Preconditioning with IGF1 has better and very significant results in lowering MMP13 and ADAMTS4 levels. The present study supports IGF1 pre-conditioned SMMSCs-CM to develop a new therapeutic approach in OA improvement through its chondrogenic and chondroprotective roles.