Helgeland Espen, Mohamed-Ahmed Samih, Shanbhag Siddharth, Pedersen Torbjørn O, Rosén Annika, Mustafa Kamal, Rashad Ahmad
Department of Clinical Dentistry, University of Bergen, Årstadveien 19, 5009 Bergen, Norway.
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Jonas Lies vei 65, 5021 Bergen, Norway.
Biomed Phys Eng Express. 2021 Aug 27;7(5). doi: 10.1088/2057-1976/ac1e68.
Gelatin has emerged as a biocompatible polymer with high printability in scaffold-based tissue engineering. The aim of the current study was to investigate the potential of genipin-crosslinked 3D printed gelatin scaffolds for temporomandibular joint (TMJ) cartilage regeneration. Crosslinking with genipin increased the stability and mechanical properties, without any cytotoxic effects. Chondrogenic differentiation of human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSC) on the scaffolds were compared to cell pellets and spheres. Although hBMSC seeded scaffolds showed a lower expression of chondrogenesis-related genes compared to cell pellets and spheres, they demonstrated a significantly reduced expression of collagen (COL) 10, suggesting a decreased hypertrophic tendency. After 21 days, staining with Alcian blue and immunofluorescence for SOX9 and COL1 confirmed the chondrogenic differentiation of hBMSC on genipin-crosslinked gelatin scaffolds. In summary, 3D printed gelatin-genipin scaffolds supported the viability, attachment and chondrogenic differentiation of hBMSC, thus, demonstrating potential for TMJ cartilage regeneration applications.
明胶已成为一种在基于支架的组织工程中具有高可打印性的生物相容性聚合物。本研究的目的是探讨京尼平交联的3D打印明胶支架用于颞下颌关节（TMJ）软骨再生的潜力。与京尼平交联可提高稳定性和机械性能，且无任何细胞毒性作用。将人骨髓间充质干细胞（hBMSC）在支架上的软骨分化与细胞团块和球体进行了比较。尽管与细胞团块和球体相比，接种hBMSC的支架显示软骨生成相关基因的表达较低，但它们的胶原蛋白（COL）10表达显著降低，表明肥大倾向降低。21天后，用阿尔新蓝染色以及对SOX9和COL1进行免疫荧光染色，证实了hBMSC在京尼平交联明胶支架上的软骨分化。总之，3D打印的明胶-京尼平支架支持hBMSC的活力、附着和软骨分化，因此，显示出在TMJ软骨再生应用中的潜力。
