Gene array comparison of highly and poorly chondrogenic clones of adult human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Homo sapiens

MSCs are a heterogeneous population of cells with different capacities for lineage differentiation. MSC clones were prepared from a single adult human bone marrow sample and screened for their chondrogenic capacity using cartilage tissue engineering (measured by type II collagen content). The aim was to compare genes expressed by highly and poorly chondrogenic clones to identify genes associated with those MSCs with an enhanced capacity for cartilage formation. Overall design: The 4 most highly chondrogenic and the 4 least chondrogenic MSC clones identified following screening by cartilage tissue engineering were selected for gene array comparison using Affymetrix microarrays.