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Despite significant advances in stem cell differentiation and tissue engineering, directing progenitor cells into three-dimensionally (3D) organized, native-like complex structures with spatially-varying mechanical properties and extra-cellular matrix (ECM) composition has not yet been achieved. The key innovations needed to achieve this would involve methods for directing a single stem cell population into multiple, spatially distinct phenotypes or lineages within a 3D scaffold structure. We have previously shown that specific combinations of natural and synthetic biomaterials can direct marrow-derived stem cells (MSC) into varying phenotypes of chondrocytes that resemble cells from the superficial, transitional, and deep zones of articular cartilage. In this current study, we demonstrate that layer-by-layer organization of these specific biomaterial compositions creates 3D niches that allow a single MSC population to …