Department of BIN Convergence Technology, Department of PolymerNano Science & Technology and Polymer Materials Fusion Research Center, Chonbuk National University, 567 Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do 54896, Republic of Korea.
Department of BIN Convergence Technology, Department of PolymerNano Science & Technology and Polymer Materials Fusion Research Center, Chonbuk National University, 567 Baekje-daero, Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do 54896, Republic of Korea.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2019 Dec 1;141:51-59. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.08.176. Epub 2019 Aug 20.
Hydrogels have shown to be advantageous in supporting damaged cartilage because of its analogous to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of cartilage tissue. However, problems such as infection and inflammation are still a challenge to be solved. In terms of tissue engineering, natural materials are more advantageous than synthetic materials in biocompatibility and biodegradability status. Herein, physically blended nature-derived gellan gum (GG) hydrogel and hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel is suggested as a one of solution for cartilage tissue engineering material. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of GG/HA hydrogel in vitro and in vivo. The chemical and mechanical properties were measured to confirm the compatibility of hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering. The viability, proliferation, morphology, and gene expression of chondrocytes encapsulated in hydrogels were examined in vitro. Furthermore, the beneficial effect of the blended hydrogel was confirmed by performing the in vivo experiment. The chemical properties of hydrogels confirmed the well physically blended hydrogels. The mechanical studies of hydrogels displayed that as the content of HA increases, the swelling ratio was higher, compressive strength decreased and degradation was faster. Therefore, to use the hydrogel of GG and HA network, the proper amount must be blended. The in vitro study of chondrocytes encapsulated GG/HA hydrogel showed that the proper amount of HA enhanced the cell growth, attachment, and gene expression. The in vivo examination verified the advantageous effect of GG/HA hydrogel. Overall results demonstrate that GG/HA hydrogel is suitable for culturing chondrocyte and can be further applied for the treatment of cartilage defects.
水凝胶因其类似于软骨组织细胞外基质（ECM），在支持受损软骨方面显示出优势。然而，感染和炎症等问题仍然是一个亟待解决的挑战。在组织工程学中，天然材料在生物相容性和可生物降解性方面比合成材料更具优势。在此，建议将物理混合的天然来源的结冷胶（GG）水凝胶和透明质酸（HA）水凝胶作为软骨组织工程材料的解决方案之一。本研究的目的是确定 GG/HA 水凝胶的体外和体内效果。测量化学和机械性能以确认水凝胶适用于软骨组织工程。体外研究了水凝胶包封的软骨细胞的活力、增殖、形态和基因表达。此外，通过进行体内实验证实了混合水凝胶的有益效果。水凝胶的化学性质证实了其良好的物理混合。水凝胶的力学研究表明，随着 HA 含量的增加，溶胀比更高，压缩强度降低，降解速度更快。因此，必须混合适量的 GG 和 HA 网络水凝胶。体外研究表明，适量的 HA 增强了软骨细胞的生长、附着和基因表达。体内实验验证了 GG/HA 水凝胶的优势。总体结果表明，GG/HA 水凝胶适合培养软骨细胞，并可进一步应用于软骨缺陷的治疗。
