title: The impact of PLGA scaffold orientation on in vitro cartilage regeneration.
abstract: The success of in vitro cartilage regeneration provides a promising approach for cartilage repair. However, the currently engineered cartilage in vitro is unsatisfactory for clinical application due to non-homogeneous structure, inadequate thickness, and poor mechanical property. It has been widely reported that orientation of scaffolds can promote cell migration and thus probably contributes to improving tissue regeneration. This study explored the impact of microtubular oriented scaffold on in vitro cartilage regeneration. Porcine articular chondrocytes were seeded into microtubule-oriented PLGA scaffolds and non-oriented scaffolds respectively. A long-term in vitro culture followed by a long-term in vivo implantation was performed to evaluate the influence of scaffold orientation on cartilage regeneration. The current results showed that the oriented scaffolds could efficiently promote cell migration towards the inner region of the constructs. After 12 weeks of in vitro culture, the chondrocyte-scaffold constructs in the oriented group formed thicker cartilage with more homogeneous structure, stronger mechanical property, and higher cartilage matrix content compared to the non-oriented group. Furthermore, the in vitro engineered cartilage based on oriented scaffolds showed better cartilage formation in terms of size, wet weight, and homogeneity after 12-week in vivo implantation in nude mice. These results indicated that the longitudinal microtubular orientation of scaffolds can efficiently improve the structure and function of in vitro engineered cartilage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai 9th People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Shanghai, PR China.
authors.forename: Yingying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Yueqian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Wenjie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shenguo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yilin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Guangdong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D020219:Chondrogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D012038:Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D034421:Sus scrofa; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000077182:Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D019344:Lactic Acid