Clonal articular cartilage progenitors outperform mesenchymal stromal cells in mitigating post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
- 1Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
- 2Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA.
Abstract
Objective
This study aimed to compare the functional, pathological, and immunomodulatory properties of articular chondroprogenitors (ACPs) with those of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in preventing the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) after destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) injury in a mouse model.Method
ACP and MSC were isolated from three horses and assessed for their immunomodulatory capacity in vitro. Aliquots of selected ACP clones and MSCs were injected intra-articularly into male mice 1-week post destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). The functional mobility of the mice before the injury and at weeks 2, 4, and 8 post-injury was assessed by two methods: ANY-maze™ voluntary mobility monitoring and DigiGait™ compulsory gait analysis. Upon euthanasia, joints were collected for histological scoring.Results
In vitro assessments demonstrated that ACPs and MSCs had anti-inflammatory properties: both treatments produced lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, while only the ACPs produced more anti-inflammatory cytokines than controls. In vivo, both ACPs and MSCs lessened the effects of DMM on mobility. Histological scoring revealed significant reductions of PTOA in the medial compartment with ACPs relative to both MSCs and vehicle controls. Overall, ACPs effectively reduced PTOA progression to a greater extent than MSCs.Conclusion
Our findings demonstrated that both equine ACP and MSC treatments provided symptom modification over vehicle controls in a short-term animal study. Notably, ACPs may be more efficacious than MSCs at reducing structural joint pathology.
Related
- Repeated intra-articular injections of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells at 3-week intervals enhanced cartilage preservation in a rabbit model of knee osteoarthritis
- Multiple intra-articular injections of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells in treating severe knee osteoarthritis: a triple-blind randomized controlled trial.
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BibTeX
@article{kloser2026clonal,
title = {{Clonal articular cartilage progenitors outperform mesenchymal stromal cells in mitigating post-traumatic osteoarthritis.}},
author = {Heidi Kloser and Parvathy Thampi and Lynn Pezzanite and Taryn Boxleitner and Lyndah Chow and Steve Dow and Katie J Sikes and Kelly Santangelo and Laurie Goodrich and Brian Johnstone},
journal = {Osteoarthritis and cartilage open},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1016/j.ocarto.2026.100878},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909142},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Clonal articular cartilage progenitors outperform mesenchymal stromal cells in mitigating post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
AU - Heidi Kloser
AU - Parvathy Thampi
AU - Lynn Pezzanite
AU - Taryn Boxleitner
AU - Lyndah Chow
AU - Steve Dow
AU - Katie J Sikes
AU - Kelly Santangelo
AU - Laurie Goodrich
AU - Brian Johnstone
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/25
JO - Osteoarthritis and cartilage open
DO - 10.1016/j.ocarto.2026.100878
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909142
AB - Objective This study aimed to compare the functional, pathological, and immunomodulatory properties of articular chondroprogenitors (ACPs) with those of bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) in preventing the progression of post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) after destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM) injury in a mouse model.Method ACP and MSC were isolated from three horses and assessed for their immunomodulatory capacity in vitro. Aliquots of selected ACP clones and MSCs were injected intra-articularly into male mice 1-week post destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). The functional mobility of the mice before the injury and at weeks 2, 4, and 8 post-injury was assessed by two methods: ANY-maze™ voluntary mobility monitoring and DigiGait™ compulsory gait analysis. Upon euthanasia, joints were collected for histological scoring.Results In vitro assessments demonstrated that ACPs and MSCs had anti-inflammatory properties: both treatments produced lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, while only the ACPs produced more anti-inflammatory cytokines than controls. In vivo, both ACPs and MSCs lessened the effects of DMM on mobility. Histological scoring revealed significant reductions of PTOA in the medial compartment with ACPs relative to both MSCs and vehicle controls. Overall, ACPs effectively reduced PTOA progression to a greater extent than MSCs.Conclusion Our findings demonstrated that both equine ACP and MSC treatments provided symptom modification over vehicle controls in a short-term animal study. Notably, ACPs may be more efficacious than MSCs at reducing structural joint pathology.
SN - 2665-9131
ER -