GDF5-induced tenogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived stromal cells (hMSC)

GDF5 is a potent tenogenic differentiation inducer. We previously demonstrated that GDF5 induced in vitro tenogenesis of human bone marrow-derived stromal cells (hMSC). We used microarrays to detail the global gene expression profiles underlying tenogenesis and identified distinct classes of up-regulated genes during this process. hMSCs were treated with GDF5 (100 ng/ml) for 4 days and 10 days and used for total RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays. hMSCs without GDF5 treatment and human tenocytes isolated from human hamstring tendon were used as a differentiated control.