Wnt
-
signalling cascade
is
one of the crucial pathways
involved in the development
and
homeostasis
of cartilage
. I
nfluencing this pathway can potentially contribute to
improved cartilage repair or regeneration. One key molecular regulator of the Wnt
pathway is the glycogen synthase kinase
-
3 (GSK
-
3) enzyme,
the
inhibition
of which
allows
initiation
of
the signalling pathway.
This study aims to utilise a binary SiO
2
-
Li
2
O
sol
-
gel derived glass for controlled delivery of lithium, a known GSK
-
3 antagonist
. The
effect
of the dissolution products of the glass
on chondrogenic differentiation in
an
in
vitro
3
-
D pellet culture model
is reported
.
D
issolution products
that contained
5 mM
lithium and 3.5 mM silicon,
were
capable of inducing chondrogenic differentiation and
hyaline cartilaginous matrix formation without the presence of growth factors
such as
TGF
-
β3.
The results suggest that sol
-
gel derived glass has the potential to be used as
a delivery vehicle for therapeutic lithium ions in cartilage regeneration applications.