Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Heights, Newark, NJ, 07102, USA.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2020 Jul;48(7):2040-2052. doi: 10.1007/s10439-020-02499-9. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Articular cartilage has limited healing and self-repair capability. Damage to articular cartilage becomes irreversible leading to osteoarthritis, which can impact a person's quality of life. Approximately, 5-10% of cartilage tissue is made up of sulfated glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), which sequester growth factors as well as provide structural integrity to the native cartilage tissue. This study evaluated the chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on gelatin-based scaffolds containing partially sulfated cellulose (pSC), a GAG mimetic derived from cellulose, in comparison to native GAGs, chondroitin sulfate-A (CS-A) and chondroitin sulfate-C (CS-C), where pSC has similarity to CS-C in terms of degree and pattern of sulfation. Scaffolds were prepared by electrospinning gelatin with pSC or the native GAGs. All scaffolds consist of fibers having average diameters of approximately 3 μm and inter-fiber spacing of approximately 30 μm and were hydrolytically stable throughout the culture. MSCs cultured on pSC containing scaffolds showed early production of sulfated GAGs and higher collagen type II to type I ratio than native GAGs. Among the native GAGs, chondrogenesis was promoted to a greater extent for CS-C in comparison to CS-A containing scaffolds, which suggests the pattern of sulfation impacts chondrogenesis. Partially sulfated cellulose could be used as a potential GAG mimic for cartilage tissue engineering applications.
关节软骨的自我修复能力有限。关节软骨一旦受损，便无法逆转，进而导致骨关节炎，影响人们的生活质量。大约有 5%-10%的软骨组织由硫酸化糖胺聚糖（GAGs）组成，它可以固定生长因子，为天然软骨组织提供结构完整性。本研究评估了人骨髓间充质干细胞（MSCs）在包含部分硫酸化纤维素（pSC）的明胶基支架上的软骨分化情况，pSC 是一种源自纤维素的 GAG 类似物，与天然 GAG 硫酸软骨素-A（CS-A）和硫酸软骨素-C（CS-C）相比，pSC 在硫酸化程度和模式上与 CS-C 相似。通过静电纺丝将明胶与 pSC 或天然 GAG 混合制备支架。所有支架均由平均直径约为 3μm 的纤维和平均间隔 30μm 的纤维组成，在整个培养过程中具有水解稳定性。在含有 pSC 的支架上培养的 MSCs 早期产生硫酸化 GAGs，且 II 型胶原蛋白与 I 型胶原蛋白的比例高于天然 GAGs。在天然 GAGs 中，CS-C 支架比 CS-A 支架更能促进软骨形成，这表明硫酸化模式会影响软骨形成。部分硫酸化纤维素可用作软骨组织工程应用的潜在 GAG 类似物。
