Potential therapeutic application of small molecule with sulfonamide for chondrogenic differentiation and articular cartilage repair

Abstract The restoration of damaged articular cartilage is a long-pursued goal in regenerative medicine. Chondrocyte-specific differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may be an effective means of repairing damaged cartilage. We identified small molecule 6 with sulfonamide as an agent that promotes specific chondrogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived MSCs (hASCs). Unlike other chondrogenic differentiation media composed of various defined components, simply adding compound 6 into culture medium was sufficient to induce chondrogenesis in this study. In an animal osteoarthritis model, both the small molecule 6 and the 6 -treated hASCs exhibited enhanced recovery of injured articular cartilage. This work provides new insight into MSC differentiation induced by small molecules and potential new therapeutic approaches for articular cartilage injury.