In vivo outcomes of tissue-engineered osteochondral grafts.
Tissue-engineered osteochondral grafts have been synthesized from a variety of materials, with some success at repairing chondral defects in animal models. We hypothesized that in tissue-engineered osteochondral grafts synthesized by bonding mesenchymal stem cell-loaded hydrogels to a porous material, the choice of the porous scaffold would affect graft healing to host bone, and the quality of cell restoration at the hyaline cartilage surface. Bone marrow-derived allogeneic mesenchymal stem cells were suspended in hydrogels that were attached to cylinders of porous tantalum metal, allograft bone, or a bioactive glass. The tissue-engineered osteochondral grafts, thus created were implanted into experimental defects in rabbit knees. Subchondral bone restoration, defect fill, bone ingrowth-implant integration, and articular tissue quality were compared between the three subchondral materials at 6 and 12 weeks. Bioactive glass and porous tantalum were superior to bone allograft in integrating to adjacent host bone, regenerating hyaline-like tissue at the graft surface, and expressing type II collagen in the articular cartilage.
Bal
B Sonny
BS
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA. balb@health.missouri.edu
Rahaman
Mohamed N
MN
Jayabalan
Prakash
P
Kuroki
Keiichi
K
Cockrell
Mary K
MK
Yao
Jian Q
JQ
Cook
James L
JL
D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology / Q000601:surgery*; D020219:Chondrogenesis; D005898:Glass; D020100:Hydrogels; D008422:Materials Testing; D045164:Mesenchymal Stem Cell Transplantation; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D023421:Models, Animal; D016348:Osseointegration; D016062:Porosity; D011817:Rabbits; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous
D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D020100:Hydrogels