Collagen fibre implant for tendon and ligament biological augmentation. In vivo study in an ovine model.

PURPOSE: Although most in vitro studies indicate that collagen is a suitable biomaterial for tendon and ligament tissue engineering, in vivo studies of implanted collagen for regeneration of these tissues are still lacking. The objectives of this study were the following: (1) to investigate the regeneration of the central third of the ovine patellar tendon using implants made of an open array of collagen fibres (reconstituted, extruded bovine collagen); and (2) to compare two collagen crosslinking chemistries: carbodiimide and carbodiimide associated with ethyleneglycoldiglycidylether. METHODS: Forty-eight Welsh Mountain sheep were operated on their right hind leg. The central third of patellar tendon was removed and substituted with carbodiimide (n = 16) and carbodiimide-ethyleneglycoldiglycidylether-crosslinked implants (n = 16). In the control group the defect was left empty (n = 16). The central third of contralateral unoperated tendons was used as positive controls. Half of the sheep in each group were killed at 3- and 6-month time points. After proper dissection, tendon sub-units (medial, central and lateral) were tested to failure (n = 6 for each group), whilst 2 non-dissected samples were used for histology. RESULTS: Both the implants had significantly lower stress to failure and modulus with respect to native tendon at both 3- and at 6-month time points. The implants did not statistically differ in stress to failure, whilst carbodiimide-crosslinked implants had significantly higher modulus than carbodiimide-ethyleneglycoldiglycidylether-crosslinked implants both at 3 and at 6 months. Histology showed carbodiimide-crosslinked implants to have a better integration with the native tendon than carbodiimide-ethyleneglycoldiglycidylether-crosslinked implants. Carbodiimide-crosslinked implants appeared partially resorbed and showed increased tissue ingrowth with respect to carbodiimide-ethyleneglycoldiglycidylether-crosslinked implants. CONCLUSIONS: To deliver collagen implants as an open array of fibres allows optimal tendon-implant integration and good ingrowth of regenerated tissue. In the present study the resorption rate of both the examined implants was too low due to the high level of crosslinking. This led to only minor substitution of the implant with regenerated tissue, which in turn produced a low-strength implanted region. Further studies are needed to find the right balance between strength and resorption rate of collagen fibres.

Structurally graduated collagen scaffolds applied to the ex vivo generation of platelets from human pluripotent stem cell-derived megakaryocytes: Enhancing production and purity.

Platelet transfusions are a key treatment option for a range of life threatening conditions including cancer, chemotherapy and surgery. Efficient ex vivo systems to generate donor independent platelets in clinically relevant numbers could provide a useful substitute. Large quantities of megakaryocytes (MKs) can be produced from human pluripotent stem cells, but in 2D culture the ratio of platelets harvested from MK cells has been limited and restricts production rate. The development of biomaterial cell supports that replicate vital hematopoietic micro-environment cues are one strategy that may increase in vitro platelet production rates from iPS derived Megakaryocyte cells. In this paper, we present the results obtained generating, simulating and using a novel structurally-graded collagen scaffold within a flow bioreactor system seeded with programmed stem cells. Theoretical analysis of porosity using micro-computed tomography analysis and synthetic micro-particle filtration provided a predictive tool to tailor cell distribution throughout the material. When used with MK programmed stem cells the graded scaffolds influenced cell location while maintaining the ability to continuously release metabolically active CD41 + CD42 + functional platelets. This scaffold design and novel fabrication technique offers a significant advance in understanding the influence of scaffold architectures on cell seeding, retention and platelet production.

Corrigendum: Large-scale production of megakaryocytes from human pluripotent stem cells by chemically defined forward programming.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/ncomms11208.

The effect of particle size on the in vivo degradation of poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide)/α-tricalcium phosphate micro- and nanocomposites.

This paper reports the effect of particle size within a resorbable composite on the in vivo degradation rate and host response. Resorbable composites based on poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) reinforced with tricalcium phosphate (TCP) have shown suitable degradation, biological and mechanical properties for bone repair. Composites with nano-sized TCP particles degrade more homogenously in vitro than equivalent composites with micro-sized particles. In this study, PLGA and PLGA/TCP composites containing micro- or nano-sized α-TCP particles were implanted into an ovine distal femoral condyle defect and harvested at 6, 12, 18 and 24weeks. An intimate interface was observed between the new bone tissue and degrading implants. Visual scoring of histological images and semi-automated segmentation of X-ray images were used to quantify implant degradation and the growth of new bone tissue in the implant site. Bone growth into the implant site occurred at a similar rate for both composites and the PLGA control. However, the in vivo degradation rate of the nanocomposite was slower than that of the microcomposite and consequently more closely matched the rate of bone growth. For the first 6weeks, the rate of in vivo degradation matched that of in vitro degradation, but lagged significantly at longer time points. These results point to the potential use of ceramic particle size in controlling composite degradation whilst maintaining good bone formation. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: This paper concerns degradable composites for orthopaedic application. The effect of particle size on implant degradation in vivo is not yet well characterised and these results give the first opportunity to directly compare in vitro and in vivo degradation rates for composites with micro- and nano-sized particles. This type of data is vital for the validation of models of composite degradation behaviour, which will lead to the design and manufacture of composites with a tailored, predictable degradation profile. The trainable segmentation tool can be used for future studies where X-rays of partially degraded implants (which have complicated greyscales and morphologies) need to be quantified without bias.

Large-scale production of megakaryocytes from human pluripotent stem cells by chemically defined forward programming.

The production of megakaryocytes (MKs)--the precursors of blood platelets--from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) offers exciting clinical opportunities for transfusion medicine. Here we describe an original approach for the large-scale generation of MKs in chemically defined conditions using a forward programming strategy relying on the concurrent exogenous expression of three transcription factors: GATA1, FLI1 and TAL1. The forward programmed MKs proliferate and differentiate in culture for several months with MK purity over 90% reaching up to 2 × 10(5) mature MKs per input hPSC. Functional platelets are generated throughout the culture allowing the prospective collection of several transfusion units from as few as 1 million starting hPSCs. The high cell purity and yield achieved by MK forward programming, combined with efficient cryopreservation and good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compatible culture, make this approach eminently suitable to both in vitro production of platelets for transfusion and basic research in MK and platelet biology.