Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200032, China.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 201508, China.
ACS Nano. 2023 Sep 26;17(18):17858-17872. doi: 10.1021/acsnano.3c03428. Epub 2023 Sep 1.
Replicating the controlled nanofibrillar architecture of collagenous tissue represents a promising approach in the design of tendon replacements that have tissue-mimicking biomechanics─outstanding mechanical strength and toughness, defect tolerance, and fatigue and fracture resistance. Guided by this principle, a fibrous artificial tendon (FAT) was constructed in the present study using an engineering strategy inspired by the fibrillation of a naturally spun silk protein. This bioinspired FAT featured a highly ordered molecular and nanofibrillar architecture similar to that of soft collagenous tissue, which exhibited the mechanical and fracture characteristics of tendons. Such similarities provided the motivation to investigate FAT for applications in Achilles tendon defect repair. cellular morphology and expression of tendon-related genes in cell culture and modeling of tendon injury clearly revealed that the highly oriented nanofibrils in the FAT substantially promoted the expression of tendon-related genes combined with the Achilles tendon structure and function. These results provide confidence about the potential clinical applications of the FAT.
复制胶原组织的受控纳米纤维结构是设计具有组织模拟生物力学性能的肌腱替代品的一种很有前途的方法——具有优异的机械强度和韧性、缺陷容限以及耐疲劳和抗断裂性。受此原理的指导，本研究采用受天然纺丝蛋白纤维化启发的工程策略构建了一种纤维状人工肌腱 (FAT)。这种仿生 FAT 具有类似于柔软胶原组织的高度有序的分子和纳米纤维结构，表现出肌腱的机械和断裂特性。这些相似性促使我们研究 FAT 在跟腱缺损修复中的应用。细胞培养中的细胞形态和肌腱相关基因的表达以及肌腱损伤的建模清楚地表明，FAT 中的高度取向纳米纤维与跟腱结构和功能相结合，极大地促进了肌腱相关基因的表达。这些结果为 FAT 的潜在临床应用提供了信心。
