You Fu, Wu Xia, Zhu Ning, Lei Ming, Eames B Frank, Chen Xiongbiao
Canadian Light Source Inc., 44 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 2 V3, Canada.
FEI Visualization Sciences Group, 16700 Park Row Drive, Houston, Texas 77084, United States.
ACS Biomater Sci Eng. 2016 Jul 11;2(7):1200-1210. doi: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00258. Epub 2016 Jun 30.
Hydrogels are particularly attractive as scaffolding materials for cartilage tissue engineering because their high water content closely mimics the native extracellular matrix (ECM). Hydrogels can also provide a three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment for homogeneously suspended cells that retains their rounded morphology and thus facilitates chondrogenesis in cartilage tissue engineering. However, fabricating hydrogel scaffolds or cell-laden hydrogel constructs with a predesigned external shape and internal structure that does not collapse remains challenging because of the low viscosity and high water content of hydrogel precursors. Here, we present a study on the fabrication of (cell-laden) alginate hydrogel constructs using a 3D bioplotting system supplemented with a submerged cross-linking process. Swelling, mechanical properties and protein release profiles were examined and tuned by controlling the initial cross-linking density. Porous cell-laden alginate hydrogel constructs were also fabricated and cell viability, cell proliferation, and cartilaginous ECM deposition were investigated. The fabrication technique and the hydrogel scaffolds obtained supported high cell viability and the deposition of cartilaginous ECM, demonstrating their potential for applications in the field of cartilage tissue engineering.
水凝胶作为软骨组织工程的支架材料特别具有吸引力，因为它们的高含水量与天然细胞外基质（ECM）非常相似。水凝胶还可以为均匀悬浮的细胞提供三维（3D）微环境，保持其圆形形态，从而促进软骨组织工程中的软骨生成。然而，由于水凝胶前体的低粘度和高含水量，制造具有预先设计的外部形状和内部结构且不会塌陷的水凝胶支架或载细胞水凝胶构建体仍然具有挑战性。在此，我们展示了一项关于使用3D生物打印系统并辅以浸没交联过程来制造（载细胞）海藻酸盐水凝胶构建体的研究。通过控制初始交联密度来检查和调节膨胀、力学性能和蛋白质释放曲线。还制造了多孔载细胞海藻酸盐水凝胶构建体，并研究了细胞活力、细胞增殖和软骨ECM沉积。所获得的制造技术和水凝胶支架支持高细胞活力和软骨ECM的沉积，证明了它们在软骨组织工程领域的应用潜力。
