A silanized hydroxypropyl methylcellulose hydrogel for the three-dimensional culture of chondrocytes.
Articular cartilage has limited intrinsic repair capacity. In order to promote cartilage repair, the amplification and transfer of autologous chondrocytes using three-dimensional scaffolds have been proposed. We have developed an injectable and self-setting hydrogel consisting of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose grafted with silanol groups (Si-HPMC). The aim of the present work is to assess both the in vitro cytocompatibility of this hydrogel and its ability to maintain a chondrocyte-specific phenotype. Primary chondrocytes isolated from rabbit articular cartilage (RAC) and two human chondrocytic cell lines (SW1353 and C28/I2) were cultured into the hydrogel. Methyl tetrazolium salt (MTS) assay and cell counting indicated that Si-HPMC hydrogel did not affect respectively chondrocyte viability and proliferation. Fluorescent microscopic observations of RAC and C28/I2 chondrocytes double-labeled with cell tracker green and ethidium homodimer-1 revealed that chondrocytes proliferated within Si-HPMC. Phenotypic analysis (RT-PCR and Alcian blue staining) indicates that chondrocytes, when three-dimensionnally cultured within Si-HPMC, expressed transcripts encoding type II collagen and aggrecan and produced sulfated glycosaminoglycans. These results show that Si-HPMC allows the growth of differentiated chondrocytes. Si-HPMC therefore appears as a potential scaffold for three-dimensional amplification and transfer of chondrocytes in cartilage tissue engineering.
Vinatier
C
C
INSERM EM 9903, Research Center on Materials with Biological Interest, School of Dental Surgery, University of Nantes, 1-Place Alexis Ricordeau 44042, Nantes Cedex 1, France.
Magne
D
D
Weiss
P
P
Trojani
C
C
Rochet
N
N
Carle
G F
GF
Vignes-Colombeix
C
C
Chadjichristos
C
C
Galera
P
P
Daculsi
G
G
Guicheux
J
J
D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D002356:Cartilage / Q000378:metabolism; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D019281:Dimerization; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate / Q000737:chemistry; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000737:chemistry*; D065347:Hypromellose Derivatives; D008747:Methylcellulose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D010641:Phenotype; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012821:Silanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D013997:Time Factors; D023822:Tissue Engineering
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D020100:Hydrogels; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012821:Silanes; D020136:Hydrogel, Polyethylene Glycol Dimethacrylate; D065347:Hypromellose Derivatives; D008747:Methylcellulose