posted on 2021-12-08, 16:06authored byYing Tang, Huaping Wang, Yilin Sun, Yang Jiang, Sha Fang, Ze Kan, Yingxi Lu, Shenghou Liu, Xianfeng Zhou, Zhibo Li
The
synthetic biodegradable polyester-based rigid porous scaffolds
and cell-laden hydrogels have been separately employed as therapeutic
modality for cartilage repair. However, the synthetic rigid scaffolds
alone may be limited due to the inherent lack of bioactivity for cartilage
regeneration, while the hydrogels have insufficient mechanical properties
that are not ideal for load-bearing cartilage applications. In the
present study, a hybrid construct was designed to merge the advantage
of 3D-printed rigid poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds
with cell-laden platelet-rich plasma (PRP) hydrogels that can release
growth factors to regulate the tissue healing process. PRP hydrogels
potentially achieved the effective delivery of mesenchymal stem cells
(MSCs) into PLGA scaffolds. This hybrid construct could obtain adequate
mechanical properties and independently provide MSCs with appropriate
clues for proliferation and differentiation. Real-time gene expression
analysis showed that PRP stimulated both chondrogenic and osteogenic
differentiation of MSC seeding into PLGA scaffolds. Finally, the hybrid
constructs were implanted into rabbits to simultaneously regenerate
both articular cartilage and subchondral bone within osteochondral
defects. Our findings suggest that this unique hybrid system could
be practically applied for osteochondral regeneration due to its capacity
for cell transportation, growth factors release, and excellent mechanical
strength, which would greatly contribute to the progress of cartilage
tissue engineering.