Medical School, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP, UK.
Jellagen Ltd., Unit G6, Capital Business Park, Parkway, Wentloog Industrial Estate, Cardiff CF3 2PY, UK.
Mar Drugs. 2021 Jul 22;19(8):405. doi: 10.3390/md19080405.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial disease leading to degeneration of articular cartilage, causing morbidity in approximately 8.5 million of the UK population. As the dense extracellular matrix of articular cartilage is primarily composed of collagen, cartilage repair strategies have exploited the biocompatibility and mechanical strength of bovine and porcine collagen to produce robust scaffolds for procedures such as matrix-induced chondrocyte implantation (MACI). However, mammalian sourced collagens pose safety risks such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy and possible transmission of viral vectors. This study characterised a non-mammalian jellyfish () collagen as an alternative, safer source in scaffold production for clinical use. Jellyfish collagen demonstrated comparable scaffold structural properties and stability when compared to mammalian collagen. Jellyfish collagen also displayed comparable immunogenic responses (platelet and leukocyte activation/cell death) and cytokine release profile in comparison to mammalian collagen in vitro. Further histological analysis of jellyfish collagen revealed bovine chondroprogenitor cell invasion and proliferation in the scaffold structures, where the scaffold supported enhanced chondrogenesis in the presence of TGFβ1. This study highlights the potential of jellyfish collagen as a safe and biocompatible biomaterial for both OA repair and further regenerative medicine applications.
骨关节炎（OA）是一种多因素疾病，导致关节软骨退化，在英国约有 850 万人因此患病。由于关节软骨的致密细胞外基质主要由胶原蛋白组成，因此软骨修复策略利用牛和猪胶原蛋白的生物相容性和机械强度，为基质诱导的软骨细胞植入（MACI）等程序生产出坚固的支架。然而，哺乳动物来源的胶原蛋白存在安全风险，如牛海绵状脑病、传染性海绵状脑病和可能传播病毒载体。本研究将一种非哺乳动物水母（）胶原蛋白作为临床应用中支架生产的替代、更安全的来源进行了描述。与哺乳动物胶原蛋白相比，水母胶原蛋白在支架结构的稳定性和稳定性方面表现出相似的特性。水母胶原蛋白在体外与哺乳动物胶原蛋白的比较中也表现出相似的免疫反应（血小板和白细胞激活/细胞死亡）和细胞因子释放谱。对水母胶原蛋白的进一步组织学分析表明，牛软骨祖细胞在支架结构中入侵和增殖，在 TGFβ1 的存在下，支架支持增强的软骨生成。这项研究强调了水母胶原蛋白作为一种安全、生物相容的生物材料，用于 OA 修复和进一步的再生医学应用的潜力。
