ArrayExpress Uploader0human17 wk17 wk17 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk6 wk2187arrayexpress_sid4Joint injury and osteoarthritis affect millions of people worldwide, but attempts to generate articular cartilage using adult...E-GEOD-51812/profile/8773/arrayexpressuploader115articular cartilagechondrocytejointlimbosteoarthritissuperficialsuperiorsurfaceDec.12, 2014FalseE-GEOD-51812_A-AFFY-44identification-of-chondrocyte-subsets-during-humanIdentification of chondrocyte subsets during human developmentJul.11, 2014Joint injury and osteoarthritis affect millions of people worldwide, but attempts to generate articular cartilage using adult stem/progenitor cells have been unsuccessful. We hypothesized that recapitulation of the human developmental chondrogenic program using pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) may represent a superior approach for cartilage restoration. Using laser capture microdissection followed by microarray analysis, we first defined a surface phenotype (CD146low/negCD166low/negCD73+CD44lowBMPR1B+) distinguishing the earliest cartilage committed cells (pre-chondrocytes) at 5-6 weeks of development; pellet assays confirmed these cells as functional, chondrocyte-restricted progenitors. Flow cytometry, qPCR and immunohistochemistry at 17 weeks revealed that the superficial layer of peri-articular chondrocytes was enriched in cells with this surface phenotype. Isolation of cells with a similar immunophenotype from differentiating human PSCs revealed a population of CD166negBMPR1B+ putative pre-chondrocytes. Functional characterization confirmed these cells as cartilage-committed, chondrocyte progenitors. The identification of a specific molecular signature for primary cartilagecommitted progenitors may provide essential knowledge for the generation of purified, clinically relevant cartilage cells from PSCs. A total of 15 samples were analyzed. In the first comparison, there were 6 biological replicates for both the chondrogenic condensations and total limb cells. In the second comparison, three biological replicates of chondrocytes from the articular region were compared to the 6 replicates of the condensations.http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/experiments/E-GEOD-51812http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/experiments/E-GEOD-51812/samples/