Biochemistry and Immunology Department, Biological Sciences Institute, Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), 31270-901 Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Cells Tissues Organs. 2010;191(2):119-28. doi: 10.1159/000231472. Epub 2009 Jul 28.
Cartilage tissue has a poor capacity for self-repair, especially in the case of severe cartilage damage due to trauma or age-related degeneration. Cell-based tissue engineering using scaffolds has provided an option for the repair of cartilage tissue. The present work demonstrates that a three-dimensional (3D) chitosan scaffold increases the efficiency of the adhesion and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) after the addition of a chondrogenic medium. These culture conditions promoted MSC differentiation into chondrocytes during the first 9 weeks of monolayer or 3D culture in a scaffold composed of chitosan or chitosan/gelatin. The results demonstrated that a chitosan scaffold caused a reduction in alkaline phosphatase production and an increase in the collagen concentration indicating phenotypic changes in the cells. In support of these results, the production of collagen type II by the MSCs cultured in the chitosan scaffold increased after 3 weeks of culture, indicating the beginning of differentiation. However, the addition of gelatin to the chitosan scaffold did not improve on the results obtained with chitosan alone. These results suggest that this 3D chitosan scaffold is a promising candidate for biomaterial implants designed to promote MSC colonization and has applications in regenerative medicine.
软骨组织自我修复能力差，特别是在创伤或与年龄相关的退化导致严重软骨损伤的情况下。基于细胞的组织工程使用支架为软骨组织的修复提供了一种选择。本工作表明，三维（3D）壳聚糖支架在添加软骨形成培养基后，可提高间充质干细胞（MSCs）的黏附和分化效率。在壳聚糖或壳聚糖/明胶支架组成的单层或 3D 培养的前 9 周，这些培养条件促进 MSC 分化为软骨细胞。结果表明，壳聚糖支架降低了碱性磷酸酶的产生并增加了胶原浓度，表明细胞表型发生了变化。支持这些结果，在壳聚糖支架中培养的 MSC 产生的 II 型胶原在培养 3 周后增加，表明开始分化。然而，向壳聚糖支架中添加明胶并不能改善单独使用壳聚糖获得的结果。这些结果表明，这种 3D 壳聚糖支架是一种有前途的生物材料植入物候选物，旨在促进 MSC 定植，并在再生医学中有应用。
