{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T21:16:33Z","timestamp":1792703793927,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"24","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,19]],"date-time":"2024-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1734566400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100019345","name":"King Salman Center for Disability Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["KSRG-2023-062"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KSRG-2023-062"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100019345","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJMS"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The limited self-repair capacity of cartilage due to its avascular and aneural nature leads to minimal regenerative ability. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) is a popular treatment for cartilage defects but faces challenges due to chondrocyte dedifferentiation in later passages, which results in undesirable fibroblastic phenotypes. A promising treatment for cartilage injuries and diseases involves tissue engineering using cells (e.g., chondrocytes), scaffolds (e.g., Alginate Sulfate (AlgSulf)), and biochemical signals (e.g., Salidroside and TGF-\u03b2). This study focuses on investigating the effects of AlgSulf scaffolds with varying degrees of sulfation, Salidroside, and TGF-\u03b2 on the proliferation, viability, and phenotype maintenance of chondrocytes. The findings demonstrate that AlgSulf films with a degree of sulfation (DS) = 2, treated with a combination of Salidroside and TGF-\u03b2, significantly enhanced chondrocyte proliferation (p &lt; 0.001 and p &lt; 0.0001 in P2 and P4, respectively), preserved round cell morphology, and maintained cartilage-specific gene expression (Col2, Aggrecans, and SOX9) while downregulating fibroblastic markers (Col1, MMP13, IL-1\u03b2, and IL-6). Our findings suggest the potential of this combination for enhancing cartilage regeneration in tissue engineering applications.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms252413623","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,19]],"date-time":"2024-12-19T10:54:20Z","timestamp":1734605660000},"page":"13623","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Maintaining the Cartilage Phenotype of Late-Passage Chondrocytes Using Salidroside, TGF-\u03b2, and Sulfated Alginate for Cartilage Tissue Engineering Applications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"given":"Rita G.","family":"Diab","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"George","family":"Deeb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rena","family":"Roda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mia","family":"Karam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marwa","family":"Faraj","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamad","family":"Harajli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4746-0915","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Laila A.","family":"Damiati","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science, University of Jeddah, Jeddah 21959, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0345-625X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rami","family":"Mhanna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Biomedical Engineering Program, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut 1107 2020, Lebanon"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Peshkova, M., Lychagin, A., Lipina, M., Di Matteo, B., Anzillotti, G., Ronzoni, F., Kosheleva, N., Shpichka, A., Royuk, V., and Fomin, V. 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