Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Transdifferentiate into Chondrocyte-Like Cells and Facilitate Meniscal Fibrocartilage Regeneration.

ABSTRACT: The effective and translational strategy to regenerate knee meniscal fibrocartilage remained challenging. Herein, we first identified vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) transdifferentiated into fibrochondrocytes and participated in spontaneous meniscal regeneration using smooth muscle cell lineage tracing transgenic mice meniscal defect model. Then, we identified low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) acoustic stimulus enhanced fibrochondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, LIPUS stimulus could up-regulate mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1 expression and then activate the transforming growth factor β1 (TGFβ1) signal, following repression of the Notch signal, consequently enhancing fibrochondrogenic transdifferentiation of VSMCs. Finally, we demo

SUBMITTER: Yan W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11665451 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature