title: Effect of visco-elastic silk-chitosan microcomposite scaffolds on matrix deposition and biomechanical functionality for cartilage tissue engineering.
abstract: Commonly used polymer-based scaffolds often lack visco-elastic properties to serve as a replacement for cartilage tissue. This study explores the effect of reinforcement of silk matrix with chitosan microparticles to create a visco-elastic matrix that could support the redifferentiation of expanded chondrocytes. Goat chondrocytes produced collagen type II and glycosaminoglycan (GAG)-enriched matrix on all the scaffolds (silk:chitosan 1:1, 1:2 and 2:1). The control group of silk-only constructs suffered from leaching out of GAG molecules into the medium. Chitosan-reinforced scaffolds retained a statistically significant (p < 0.02) higher amount of GAG, which in turn significantly increased (p < 0.005) the aggregate modulus (as compared to silk-only controls) of the construct akin to that of native tissue. Furthermore, the microcomposite constructs demonstrated highly pronounced hysteresis at 4% strain up to 400 cycles, mimicking the visco-elastic properties of native cartilage tissue. These results demonstrated a step towards optimizing the design of biomaterial scaffolds used for cartilage tissue engineering. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Shibu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chameettachal
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sumit
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Murab
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Radhika
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vaid
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Swati
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Midha
authors.affiliation: Department of Textile Technology, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sourabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghosh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D012831:Bombyx; D002356:Cartilage / Q000502:physiology*; D002470:Cell Survival; D048271:Chitosan / Q000737:chemistry*; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D019245:Compressive Strength; D004548:Elasticity; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000378:metabolism*; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000378:metabolism; D006041:Goats; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008422:Materials Testing; D010316:Particle Size; D012044:Regression Analysis; D047011:Silk / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014783:Viscosity; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D047011:Silk; D003094:Collagen; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: cartilage; chitosan; extracellular matrix; silk; tissue engineering; visco-elastic