Chondrogenic Differentiation from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Non-Viral Minicircle Vectors. Here, we differentiate hiPSCs into chondrogenic pellets using minicircle vectors.  Minicircles are a non-viral gene delivery system that can produce growth factors without integration into the host genome.  We generated minicircle vectors containing bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) and transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGFβ3) and delivered them to mesenchymal stem cell-like, hiPSC-derived outgrowth (OG) cells.  Cell pellets generated using minicircle-transfected OG cells successfully differentiated into the chondrogenic lineage.  The implanted minicircle-based chondrogenic pellets recovered the osteochondral defects in rat models.  This work is a proof-of-concept study that describes the potential application of minicircle vectors in cartilage regeneration using hiPSCs.
minicircle
Chondrogenic Differentiation from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Using Non-Viral Minicircle Vectors. Here, we differentiate hiPSCs into chondrogenic pellets using minicircle vectors.  Minicircles are a non-viral gene delivery system that can produce growth factors without integration into the host genome.  We generated minicircle vectors containing bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2) and transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGFβ3) and delivered them to mesenchymal stem cell-like, hiPSC-derived outgrowth (OG) cells.  Cell pellets generated using minicircle-transfected OG cells successfully differentiated into the chondrogenic lineage.  The implanted minicircle-based chondrogenic pellets recovered the osteochondral defects in rat models.  This work is a proof-of-concept study that describes the potential application of minicircle vectors in cartilage regeneration using hiPSCs.
minicircle