Efficient cartilage generation from human progenitors by recapitulating transient vascularization

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Here, we report that avascular elastic cartilage could be efficiently regenerated from in vitro grown mesenchymal condensation by recapitulating early chondrogenesis. Combined with an intravital imaging approach, we identified the presence of endothelial cells inside the mesenchymal condensation prior to cartilage maturation. Strikingly, recreating endothelial interaction in culture enabled the recently identified adult progenitors to generate a mesenchymal condensation in vitro in a self-driven manner without any support of exogenous factors nor scaffolds. These in vitro grown 3-D condensed progenitors much efficiently reconstructed three-dimensional elastic cartilage upon transplantation compared with conventional methods. Thus, the transplantation of condensed progenitors with endothelial cells represents a promising new approach towards realizing regenerative medicine as well as studying the mechanism of vascular regression.