Abstract
Tissue morphogenesis remains one of the least understood problems in cell and developmental biology. There is a disconnect between the mechanisms that apply to two-dimensional (2D) cultures and those seen in vivo. Three-dimensional (3D) culture presents a complex stimulus triggering cellular responses that are only partially understood. We compared 2D and 3D cultures of human mesenchymal stem cells in the presence of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK) inhibitor, PD98059, to determine the role of extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK) in collagen-induced differentiation. 3D collagen I culture enhanced and accelerated the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC). Contrary to 2D results, the addition of PD98059 induced a significant amplification of osteogenic gene expression and matrix mineralization in 3D cultures. The inhibition of ERK altered cell-mediated compaction, proliferation, and resulted in the development of distinct tissue microstructure. Therefore, we suggest that the ability to reorganize collagen in 3D is an important step in ERK-mediated osteogenic differentiation. This work aims to propose a correlation between osteogenic differentiation and hMSC-directed collagen I remodeling. We present a potential mechanistic link (ERK) through which the three dimensionality of an engineered tissue acts to differentially induce and maintain cellular phenotype during tissue development.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 331-341 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Stem Cells and Development |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 1 2009 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Hematology
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Biology