Li Xiaomeng, Chen Ying, Kawazoe Naoki, Chen Guoping
International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan.
J Mater Chem B. 2017 Aug 7;5(29):5753-5762. doi: 10.1039/c7tb01350g. Epub 2017 Jul 7.
Hydrogels can provide biomimetic three-dimensional microenvironments for transplanted cells and are attractive scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering. In this study, gelatin hydrogels with microporous structures were prepared and their effects on chondrocyte functions were compared with gelatin hydrogels without microporous structures. Gelatin bulk hydrogels were prepared by photo-initiated crosslinking of gelatin methacrylate macromers. Micropores were formed in the bulk hydrogels by dissolution of gelatin microgels prepared by a cutting method. Chondrocytes cultured in gelatin hydrogels without microporous structures showed high expression and production of cartilaginous matrices and low cell proliferation. Chondrocytes cultured in gelatin hydrogels with microporous structures tended to migrate from bulk hydrogel matrices to the micropores. Chondrocytes in the microporous hydrogels showed higher proliferation and lower expression and production of cartilaginous matrices than did the chondrocytes cultured in hydrogels without microporous structures. Gelatin hydrogels without microporous structures facilitated maintenance of the cartilaginous phenotype of the chondrocytes while microporous gelatin hydrogels were beneficial for cell proliferation.
水凝胶可为移植细胞提供仿生三维微环境，是软骨组织工程中具有吸引力的支架材料。在本研究中，制备了具有微孔结构的明胶水凝胶，并将其对软骨细胞功能的影响与无微孔结构的明胶水凝胶进行了比较。通过甲基丙烯酸明胶大分子单体的光引发交联制备明胶块状水凝胶。通过溶解采用切割法制备的明胶微凝胶在块状水凝胶中形成微孔。在无微孔结构的明胶水凝胶中培养的软骨细胞表现出软骨基质的高表达和高产量以及低细胞增殖。在具有微孔结构的明胶水凝胶中培养的软骨细胞倾向于从块状水凝胶基质迁移到微孔中。与在无微孔结构的水凝胶中培养的软骨细胞相比，微孔水凝胶中的软骨细胞表现出更高的增殖以及更低的软骨基质表达和产量。无微孔结构的明胶水凝胶有助于维持软骨细胞的软骨表型，而微孔明胶水凝胶有利于细胞增殖。
