title: Development of biomechanical properties and morphogenesis of in vitro tissue engineered cartilage.
abstract: Neocartilage was engineered by culturing bovine chondrocytes on poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) fibrous nonwoven scaffolds. The biomechanical properties and morphologies of the PGA-chondrocyte constructs were studied over 12 weeks of in vitro culture. PGA scaffolds without cells lost their mechanical strength and structural integrity between week 2 and week 3 in culture. The thickness of the PGA-chondrocyte constructs decreased by 35% during the first 3 weeks, but the thickness increased from week 3 to week 9 to a thickness 42% higher than that of the starting scaffolds, which was then maintained. Safranin O staining of PGA-chondrocyte constructs revealed increasing proteoglycan formation over time. The compressive modules of PGA-chondrocyte constructs increased with in vitro culture time, and reached the same order of magnitude as that of normal bovine cartilage at week 9. The aggregate modulus of the PGA-chondrocyte constructs decreased by 57% over the first 2 weeks but then increased, reaching the same order of magnitude as normal bovine cartilage at week 12. The apparent permeability of the PGA-chondrocyte constructs, which was initially four orders of magnitude above that of normal cartilage, decreased between weeks 1 and 3 and thereafter remained the same order of magnitude as that measured for normal cartilage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA.
authors.forename: P X
authors.initials: PX
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schloo
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mooney
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002356:Cartilage / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002417:Cattle; D046508:Culture Techniques; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009024:Morphogenesis; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D011100:Polyglycolic Acid