Biomimetic design and fabrication of multilayered osteochondral scaffolds by low-temperature deposition manufacturing and thermal-induced phase-separation techniques.

Integrative osteochondral repair is a useful strategy for cartilage-defect repair. To mimic the microenvironment, it is necessary that scaffolds effectively mimic the extracellular matrix of natural cartilage and subchondral bone. In this study, biomimetic osteochondral scaffolds containing an oriented cartilage layer, a compact layer, and a three-dimensional (3D)-printed core-sheath structured-bone layer were developed. The oriented cartilage layer was designed to mimic the structural and material characteristics of native cartilage tissue and was fabricated with cartilage matrix-chitosan materials, using thermal-induced phase-separation technology. The 3D-printed core-sheath structured-bone layer was fabricated with poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide)/ß-tricalcium phosphate-collagen materials by low-temperature deposition technology, using a specially designed core-sheath nozzle, and was designed to mimic the mechanical characteristics of subchondral bone and improve scaffold hydrophilicity. The compact layer was designed to mimic the calcified-layer structure of natural cartilage to ensure the presence of different suitable microenvironments for the regeneration of bone and cartilage. A dissolving-bonding process was developed to effectively combine the three parts together, after which the bone and cartilage scaffolds exhibited good mechanical properties and hydrophilicity. Additionally, goat autologous bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were isolated and then seeded into the bone and cartilage layers, respectively, and following a 1 week culture in vitro, the BMSC-scaffold constructs were implanted into a goat articular-defect model. Our results indicated that the scaffolds exhibited good biocompatibility, and 24 weeks after implantation, the femoral condyle surface was relatively flat and consisted of a large quantity of hyaloid cartilage. Furthermore, histological staining revealed regenerated trabecular bone formed in the subchondral bone-defect area. These results provided a new method to fabricate biomimetic osteochondral scaffolds and demonstrated their effectiveness for future clinical applications in cartilage-defect repair.

Physical properties and biocompatibility of a core-sheath structure composite scaffold for bone tissue engineering in vitro.

Scaffolds play a critical role in the practical realization of bone tissue engineering. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a core-sheath structure composite scaffold possesses admirable physical properties and biocompatibility in vitro. A novel scaffold composed of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid)/ß-tricalcium phosphate (PLGA/ß-TCP) skeleton wrapped with Type I collagen via low-temperature deposition manufacturing (LDM) was prepared, and bone mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) were used to evaluate cell behavior on the scaffold. PLGA/ß-TCP skeleton was chosen as the control group. Physical properties were evaluated by pority ratio, compressive strength, and Young's modulus. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to study morphology of cells. Hydrophilicity was evaluated by water absorption ratio. Cell proliferation was tested by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay (MTT). Osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs was evaluated by alkaline phosphates activity (ALP). The results indicated that physical properties of the novel scaffold were as good as those of the control group, hydrophilicity was observably better (P < 0.01) than that of control group, and abilities of proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs on novel scaffold were significantly greater (P < 0.05) than those of control group, which suggests that the novel scaffold possesses preferable characteristics and have high value in bone tissue engineering.

Oriented cartilage extracellular matrix-derived scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering.

The structure of a cartilage scaffold is required to mimic native articular cartilage, which has an oriented structure associated with its mechanical function. In this study, an oriented cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM)-derived scaffold was fabricated composed of microtubules arranged in parallel in vertical section. The mechanical property was higher than that of a typical non-oriented scaffold (p<0.05). Oriented and non-oriented scaffolds were seeded with chondrogenic-induced bone mesenchymal stem cells and cell-scaffold constructs were implanted subcutaneously in the dorsa of nude mice. At 4 weeks, all samples stained positive for safranin O, toluidine blue, and collagen type II, but negative for collagen type I. Oriented-structure constructs contained numerous parallel giant bundles of densely packed collagen fibers with chondrocyte-like cells aligned along the fibers. Total DNA, glycosaminoglycans and collagen contents increased with time and these values were similar in the two groups. Compared with the native articular cartilage, the Young's modulus of the tissue-engineered (TE) cartilage reached 42.9%, 23.0% in oriented and non-oriented scaffolds respectively, at 4 weeks. These results indicate that oriented ECM-derived scaffolds enhance the biomechanical property of TE cartilage and thus represent a promising approach to cartilage tissue engineering.