Yang Yueh-Hsun Kevin, Ogando Courtney R, Barabino Gilda A
Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City University of New York-the City College, New York, NY 10031, USA.
J Funct Biomater. 2020 Jan 18;11(1):5. doi: 10.3390/jfb11010005.
Matrix-assisted chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) is of great interest for the treatment of patients with cartilage lesions. However, the roles of the matrix properties in modulating cartilage tissue integration during MACT recovery have not been fully understood. The objective of this study was to uncover the effects of substrate mechanics on the integration of implanted chondrocyte-laden hydrogels with native cartilage tissues. To this end, agarose hydrogels with Young's moduli ranging from 0.49 kPa (0.5%, /) to 23.08 kPa (10%) were prepared and incorporated into an in vitro human cartilage explant model. The hydrogel-cartilage composites were cultivated for up to 12 weeks and harvested for evaluation via scanning electron microscopy, histology, and a push-through test. Our results demonstrated that integration strength at the hydrogel-cartilage interface in the 1.0% (0.93 kPa) and 2.5% (3.30 kPa) agarose groups significantly increased over time, whereas hydrogels with higher stiffness (>8.78 kPa) led to poor integration with articular cartilage. Extensive sprouting of extracellular matrix in the interfacial regions was only observed in the 0.5% to 2.5% agarose groups. Collectively, our findings suggest that while neocartilage development and its integration with native cartilage are modulated by substrate elasticity, an optimal Young's modulus (3.30 kPa) possessed by agarose hydrogels is identified such that superior quality of tissue integration is achieved without compromising tissue properties of implanted constructs.
基质辅助软骨细胞移植（MACT）在软骨损伤患者的治疗中备受关注。然而，在MACT恢复过程中，基质特性在调节软骨组织整合方面的作用尚未完全明确。本研究的目的是揭示底物力学对植入的载有软骨细胞的水凝胶与天然软骨组织整合的影响。为此，制备了杨氏模量范围从0.49 kPa（0.5%，/）到23.08 kPa（10%）的琼脂糖水凝胶，并将其纳入体外人软骨外植体模型。水凝胶 - 软骨复合材料培养长达12周，然后通过扫描电子显微镜、组织学和推穿试验进行收获评估。我们的结果表明，1.0%（0.93 kPa）和2.5%（3.30 kPa）琼脂糖组中水凝胶 - 软骨界面的整合强度随时间显著增加，而刚度较高（>8.78 kPa）的水凝胶与关节软骨的整合较差。仅在0.5%至2.5%琼脂糖组的界面区域观察到细胞外基质的大量发芽。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，虽然新软骨的发育及其与天然软骨的整合受底物弹性调节，但已确定琼脂糖水凝胶具有最佳杨氏模量（3.30 kPa），从而在不损害植入构建体组织特性的情况下实现了卓越的组织整合质量。
