Shiley Center for Orthopedic Research and Education, Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California.
Department of Molecular Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California.
Tissue Eng Part A. 2019 Dec;25(23-24):1577-1590. doi: 10.1089/ten.TEA.2018.0319. Epub 2019 Aug 14.
Electrospinning is an attractive method of fabricating nanofibers that replicate the ultrastructure of the human meniscus. However, it is challenging to approximate the mechanical properties of meniscal tissue while maintaining the biocompatibility of collagen fibers. Our objective was to determine if functionalizing polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers with collagen would enhance their biocompatibility. We therefore used coaxial electrospinning to generate core-shell nanofibers with a core of PLA for mechanical strength and a shell of collagen to enhance cell attachment and matrix synthesis. We characterized the nanostructure of the engineered scaffolds and measured the hydrophilic and mechanical properties. We assessed the performance of human meniscal cells seeded on coaxial electrospun scaffolds to produce meniscal tissue by gene expression and histology. Finally, we investigated whether these cell-seeded scaffolds could repair surgical tears created in avascular meniscal explants. Histology, immunohistochemistry, and mechanical testing of repair provided evidence of neotissue that was significantly better integrated with the native tissue than with the acellular coaxial electrospun scaffolds. Human meniscal cell-seeded coaxial electrospun scaffolds may have potential in enhancing repair of avascular meniscus tears. Impact Statement The success of any tissue-engineered meniscus graft relies on its ability to mimic native three-dimensional microstructure, support cell growth, produce tissue-specific matrix, and enhance graft integration into the repair site. Polylactic acid scaffolds possess the desired mechanical properties, whereas collagen scaffolds induce better cell attachment and enhanced tissue regeneration. We therefore fabricated nanofibrous scaffolds that combined the properties of two biomaterials. These novel coaxial scaffolds more closely emulated the structure, mechanical properties, and biochemical composition of native meniscal tissue. Our findings of meniscogenic tissue generation and integration in meniscus defects have the potential to be translated to clinical use.
静电纺丝是一种制造纳米纤维的有吸引力的方法，这些纤维复制了人类半月板的超微结构。然而，在保持胶原纤维的生物相容性的同时，近似半月板组织的机械性能是具有挑战性的。我们的目标是确定用胶原功能化聚乳酸（PLA）纳米纤维是否会增强它们的生物相容性。因此，我们使用同轴静电纺丝生成具有 PLA 芯以提供机械强度和胶原壳以增强细胞附着和基质合成的核壳纳米纤维。我们对工程支架的纳米结构进行了表征，并测量了其亲水性和机械性能。我们评估了在同轴静电纺丝支架上接种人半月板细胞以通过基因表达和组织学生产半月板组织的性能。最后，我们研究了这些细胞接种支架是否可以修复在无血管半月板外植体中产生的手术撕裂。修复的组织学、免疫组织化学和机械测试提供了证据表明，新组织与天然组织的整合明显优于无细胞的同轴静电纺丝支架。用人半月板细胞接种的同轴静电纺丝支架可能具有增强无血管半月板撕裂修复的潜力。
影响陈述任何组织工程半月板移植物的成功都依赖于其模拟天然三维微观结构、支持细胞生长、产生组织特异性基质以及增强移植物与修复部位整合的能力。聚乳酸支架具有所需的机械性能，而胶原支架可诱导更好的细胞附着和增强的组织再生。因此，我们制造了结合两种生物材料特性的纳米纤维支架。这些新型同轴支架更紧密地模拟了天然半月板组织的结构、机械性能和生化组成。我们在半月板缺陷中生成和整合半月板生成组织的发现有可能转化为临床应用。
