Anatomical Science Program, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA.
J Biomed Mater Res A. 2010 Aug;94(2):509-14. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.32719.
One of the major obstacles hindering cartilage repair is the integration of the reparative cartilage with the recipient cartilage. The purpose of this study was to develop an in vitro model that can be conveniently applied to simulate and improve the integration of tissue engineered cartilage with native articular cartilage. This model, a cartilage integration construct, consists of a cartilage explant and isolated chondrocytes. The explant was anchored to agarose gel on a culture plate as agarose gelation at 4 degrees C to seal the gap between the bottom of the explant and culture plate surface. Isolated chondrocytes were added and confined in the defect created in the center of the explant. After 4 weeks of culture, neocartilage containing proteoglycans and type II collagen was formed. Minimal integration occurred between the neocartilage and the cartilage explant, resembling the failure of cartilage integration manifested in experimental and clinical cartilage repair. In this model, agarose gel anchors the explant onto culture plate by altering temperatures and effectively prevents "leakage" of the isolated chondrocytes from the defect of the explant. This model provides a convenient simulation of the cartilage integration process in vitro and has applications in studies of cartilage integration and cartilage tissue engineering.
阻碍软骨修复的主要障碍之一是修复的软骨与受体软骨的整合。本研究的目的是开发一种体外模型，该模型可方便地应用于模拟和改善组织工程软骨与天然关节软骨的整合。这种模型是一种软骨整合构建体，由软骨外植体和分离的软骨细胞组成。外植体通过在培养板上的琼脂糖凝胶固定，在 4°C 时凝胶化，以密封外植体底部和培养板表面之间的间隙。分离的软骨细胞被添加并限制在外植体中心形成的缺陷中。经过 4 周的培养，形成了含有糖胺聚糖和 II 型胶原的新软骨。新软骨与软骨外植体之间仅发生最小程度的整合，类似于实验和临床软骨修复中表现出的软骨整合失败。在该模型中，琼脂糖凝胶通过改变温度将外植体固定在培养板上，有效地防止分离的软骨细胞从外植体的缺陷中“泄漏”。该模型提供了体外软骨整合过程的方便模拟，可应用于软骨整合和软骨组织工程的研究。
