Effect Of Connective Tissue Growth Factor On The Proliferation And Phenotype Of Rabbits Articular Chondrocytes Cultured In Vitro

Objective: To investigate the effect of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) on the proliferation and phenotype of rabbits articular chondrocytes cultured in vitro, study the dose-effect of CTGF to chondrocytes proliferation, provide experimental evidence for articular cartilage defect recovery using tissue engineering.Method: Articular chondrocytes from normal rabbits were cultured in vitro.The experimental groups were cultured in DMEM with CTGF of various concentrations , while the control group was given with DMEM. Methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium method (MTT) was adopted to observe the influence of CTGF with different concentrations to the proliferation effect of chondrocytes, and immunocytochemical method (SABC) was used to assay the expression of type II collagen.Results: Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) could promote the proliferation of rabbits articular chondrocytes, which had a significance campared with the control group (P<0.01). The optimal effect of CTGF concentration was 100ng/ml (P<0.01), and the expression of type II collagen kept positive and increased all the time.Conclusion: 1.CTGF can promote the proliferation of rabbits chondrocytes cultured in vitro.2.CTGF can enhance the expression of cartilage specific type II collagen and keep its phenotype.3. CTGF can be used as a new growth factor in recovering articular cartilage defect and osteoarthritis.