Kamaraj Meenakshi, Caballero Aguilar Lilith, Duchi Serena, Doyle Stephanie E, Rath Subha Narayan, Moulton Simon E, Onofrillo Carmine
Regenerative Medicine and Stem cell laboratory, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, Kandi, Telangana 502284, India.
Department of Engineering Technologies, School of Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Victoria 3122, Australia.
Biofabrication. 2025 Aug 4;17(4). doi: 10.1088/1758-5090/adf3e7.
This study addresses the challenges of tracking cell-mediated biodegradation in cartilage tissue engineering, where hydrogels and scaffolds play a crucial role in providing structural support and promoting tissue regeneration. This research area has been rarely studied, offering potential insights into bridging the gap betweenandconditions for real-time monitoring of tissue regeneration alongside biodegradation. We developed dual-labeled hydrogel/scaffold composites for real-time monitoring of scaffold degradation in response to cell activity. Gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) hydrogels are extensively explored for cartilage tissue engineering, albeit concerns remain regarding their mechanical properties under load-bearing conditions. To address this, a hydrogel/scaffold composite system was employed in this study, where a poly (-caprolactone) (PCL) hex prism edge structure acts as a scaffold to support the cell-laden GelMA hydrogel. Fluorophore labeling of GelMA and PCL facilitated non-invasive monitoring of the hydrogel/scaffold composite biodegradation under cell proliferation conditions. Initially, the behavior of fluorescent-tagged Hydrogel/Scaffold was examined under accelerated degradation conditions. Subsequently, human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells loaded into fluorescent-labeled hydrogel/scaffolds were evaluated for their biocompatibility potential and chondrogenesis. Results demonstrated a correlation between the loss of fluorescence from the hydrogel/scaffold degradation, accompanied by extracellular matrix accumulation. The fluorescently labeled hydrogel/scaffold holds promising application for cartilage tissue engineering, offering the capability to monitor biodegradation using high-throughput and contactless techniques.
本研究探讨了在软骨组织工程中追踪细胞介导的生物降解所面临的挑战，其中水凝胶和支架在提供结构支持和促进组织再生方面发挥着关键作用。该研究领域鲜有研究，有望为弥合实时监测组织再生与生物降解之间的差距提供潜在见解。我们开发了双标记水凝胶/支架复合材料，用于实时监测支架在细胞活性作用下的降解情况。甲基丙烯酰化明胶（GelMA）水凝胶在软骨组织工程中得到了广泛研究，尽管在承重条件下其力学性能仍存在问题。为了解决这一问题，本研究采用了一种水凝胶/支架复合系统，其中聚（ε-己内酯）（PCL）六棱柱边缘结构作为支架来支撑负载细胞的GelMA水凝胶。GelMA和PCL的荧光团标记有助于在细胞增殖条件下对水凝胶/支架复合材料的生物降解进行非侵入性监测。最初，在加速降解条件下检测了荧光标记的水凝胶/支架的行为。随后，对负载到荧光标记的水凝胶/支架中的人脂肪间充质干细胞的生物相容性潜力和成软骨能力进行了评估。结果表明，水凝胶/支架降解导致的荧光损失与细胞外基质积累之间存在相关性。荧光标记的水凝胶/支架在软骨组织工程中具有广阔的应用前景，能够使用高通量和非接触技术监测生物降解。
