Description
The innate repair and regeneration potential of skeletal tissues such as the intervertebral disc and articular cartilage is extremely limited, in part due to their avascularity and low cell density. Despite recent advances in MSC-based disc and cartilage regeneration, key challenges remain, including the sensitivity of these cells to in vivo microenvironmental stress such as low oxygen and nutrient levels. The objective of this study was to investigate whether preconditioning with hypoxia and/or transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-) can enhance MSC survival and extracellular matrix production in a low oxygen and nutrient-limited microenvironment. Secondarily, the effects of donor variability on the response of MSCs to preconditioning was examined. MSCs from multiple bovine donors were preconditioned in monolayer in normoxia or hypoxia, with or without TGF-.