Transcription regulators differentiate mesenchymal stem cells into chondroprogenitors, and their in vivo implantation regenerated the intervertebral disc degeneration

Figure 3 Expression of chondrogenic markers in human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells and induced chondro-progenitor cells. A: Human umbilical cord (hUC)-mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) did not express Sox-9, transforming growth factor beta-2 (TGFβ2), and aggrecan, which indicates that MSCs are negative for the expression of early and late chondrogenic markers; B: Induced chondro-progenitor cells expressed aggrecan, and TGFβ2, showing that MSCs were differentiated into chondrocytes; C: The quantification of fluorescent intensities for aggrecan and TGFβ2 showed their significantly higher expression in differentiated cells as compared to control. ^cP < 0.001 vs MSCs.