Department of Materials and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Applied Chemistry, School of Science and Technology, Meiji University, Tama-ku, Kanagawa, Japan.
J Biomed Mater Res B Appl Biomater. 2024 Jun;112(6):e35433. doi: 10.1002/jbm.b.35433.
Ex vivo tissue engineering is an effective therapeutic approach for the treatment of severe cartilage diseases that require tissue replenishment or replacement. This strategy demands scaffolds that are durable enough for long-term cell culture to form artificial tissue. Additionally, such scaffolds must be biocompatible to prevent the transplanted matrix from taking a toll on the patient's body. From the viewpoint of structure and bio-absorbability, a β-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) fiber scaffold (βTFS) is expected to serve as a good scaffold for tissue engineering. However, the fragility and high solubility of β-TCP fibers make this matrix unsuitable for long-term cell culture. To solve this problem, we developed an alginate-coated β-TCP fiber scaffold (βTFS-Alg). To assess cell proliferation and differentiation in the presence of βTFS-Alg, we characterized ATDC5 cells, a chondrocyte-like cell line, when grown in this matrix. We found that alginate coated the surface of βTFS fiber and suppressed the elution of Ca from β-TCP fibers. Due to the decreased solubility of βTFS-Alg compared with β-TCP, the former provided an improved scaffold for long-term cell culture. Additionally, we observed superior cell proliferation and upregulation of chondrogenesis marker genes in ATDC5 cells cultured in βTFS-Alg. These results suggest that βTFS-Alg is suitable for application in tissue culture.
体外组织工程是一种有效的治疗方法，可用于治疗需要组织补充或替代的严重软骨疾病。这种策略需要足够耐用的支架，以便进行长期细胞培养以形成人工组织。此外，为了防止移植基质对患者身体造成损害，此类支架必须具有生物相容性。从结构和生物可吸收性的角度来看，β-磷酸三钙（β-TCP）纤维支架（βTFS）有望成为组织工程的良好支架。然而，β-TCP 纤维的脆弱性和高溶解性使得该基质不适合长期细胞培养。为了解决这个问题，我们开发了一种藻酸盐涂层的 β-TCP 纤维支架（βTFS-Alg）。为了评估βTFS-Alg 存在时细胞的增殖和分化，我们对类似于软骨细胞的 ATDC5 细胞在该基质中的生长情况进行了表征。我们发现藻酸盐覆盖在βTFS 纤维的表面，并抑制了 Ca 从β-TCP 纤维中的洗脱。由于βTFS-Alg 的溶解性比β-TCP 低，因此前者为长期细胞培养提供了更好的支架。此外，我们观察到在βTFS-Alg 中培养的 ATDC5 细胞的增殖和软骨形成标志物基因的上调更为明显。这些结果表明βTFS-Alg 适用于组织培养。
