Chondrogenic Differentiation of hESC in Micromass Culture

Human adult cartilage has limited capacity for self-renewal. Accordingly, repair of cartilage tissue damaged as a result of acute traumatic injury or via chronic wear or degenerative disease, such as arthritis, is a major clinical problem. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) could provide an unlimited source of chondrogenic progenitors for cartilage repair. In order to realize this potential, it is necessary to develop methodo�logies for the directed differentiation of hESCs into chondrocytes. In this chapter, we describe culture systems and conditions, which we have developed for direct, progressive, and substantially uniform differentiation of pluripotent hESCs into the chondrogenic lineage.