Institute of Sports Medicine, Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy Medical Sciences, 619 Changcheng Road, Taian, 271016, Shandong, PR China.
Clinical Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, 706 Taishan Great Street, Taian, 271000, Shandong, PR China.
J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2021 Mar 29;32(4):36. doi: 10.1007/s10856-021-06506-w.
To evaluate the performance of a composite scaffold of Wharton's jelly (WJ) and chondroitin sulfate (CS) and the effect of the composite scaffold loaded with human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (hUCMSCs) in repairing articular cartilage defects, two experiments were carried out. The in vitro experiments involved identification of the hUCMSCs, construction of the biomimetic composite scaffolds by the physical and chemical crosslinking of WJ and CS, and testing of the biomechanical properties of both the composite scaffold and the WJ scaffold. In the in vivo experiments, composite scaffolds loaded with hUCMSCs and WJ scaffolds loaded with hUCMSCs were applied to repair articular cartilage defects in the rat knee. Moreover, their repair effects were evaluated by the unaided eye, histological observations, and the immunogenicity of scaffolds and hUCMSCs. We found that in vitro, the Young's modulus of the composite scaffold (WJ-CS) was higher than that of the WJ scaffold. In vivo, the composite scaffold loaded with hUCMSCs repaired rat cartilage defects better than did the WJ scaffold loaded with hUCMSCs. Both the scaffold and hUCMSCs showed low immunogenicity. These results demonstrate that the in vitro construction of a human-derived WJ-CS composite scaffold enhances the biomechanical properties of WJ and that the repair of knee cartilage defects in rats is better with the composite scaffold than with the single WJ scaffold if the scaffold is loaded with hUCMSCs.
为了评估 Wharton 胶（WJ）和硫酸软骨素（CS）复合支架的性能以及负载人脐带间充质干细胞（hUCMSCs）的复合支架在修复关节软骨缺损方面的效果，进行了两项实验。体外实验包括 hUCMSCs 的鉴定、WJ 和 CS 的物理化学交联构建仿生复合支架以及复合支架和 WJ 支架的生物力学性能测试。在体内实验中，负载 hUCMSCs 的复合支架和负载 hUCMSCs 的 WJ 支架被应用于修复大鼠膝关节的关节软骨缺损。此外，通过肉眼观察、组织学观察以及支架和 hUCMSCs 的免疫原性评估它们的修复效果。我们发现，体外，复合支架（WJ-CS）的杨氏模量高于 WJ 支架。在体内，负载 hUCMSCs 的复合支架比负载 hUCMSCs 的 WJ 支架更能修复大鼠软骨缺损。支架和 hUCMSCs 的免疫原性均较低。这些结果表明，体外构建的人源性 WJ-CS 复合支架增强了 WJ 的生物力学性能，如果支架负载 hUCMSCs，则复合支架修复大鼠膝关节软骨缺损的效果优于单一 WJ 支架。
