title: Expandable Scaffold Improves Integration of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage: An In Vivo Study in a Rabbit Model.
abstract: One of the major limitations of tissue-engineered cartilage is poor integration of chondrocytes and scaffold structures with recipient tissue. To overcome this limitation, an expandable scaffold with a honeycomb-like structure has been developed using microfluidic technology. In this study, we evaluated the performance of this expandable gelatin scaffold seeded with rabbit chondrocytes in vivo. The chondrocyte/scaffold constructs were implanted into regions of surgically introduced cylindrical osteochondral defects in rabbit femoral condyles. At 2, 4, and 6 months postsurgery, the implanted constructs were evaluated by gross and histological examinations. As expected, the osteochondral defects, which were untreated or transplanted with blank scaffolds, showed no signs of repair, whereas the defects transplanted with chondrocyte/scaffold constructs showed significant cartilage regeneration. Furthermore, the expandable scaffolds seeded with chondrocytes had more regenerated cartilage tissue and better integration with the recipient tissue than autologous chondrocyte implantation. Biomechanical tests revealed that the chondrocyte/scaffold group had the highest compressive strength among all groups at all three time points and endured a similar compressive force to normal cartilage after 6 months of implantation. Histological examinations revealed that the chondrocytes were distributed uniformly within the scaffolds, maintained a normal phenotype, and secreted functional components of the extracellular matrix. Histomorphometric assessment showed a remarkable total interface of up to 87% integration of the expandable scaffolds with the host tissue at 6 months postoperation. In conclusion, the expandable scaffolds improved chondrocyte/scaffold construct integration with the host tissue and were beneficial for cartilage repair.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital , The Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan .|2 Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University , Hualien, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Chen-Chie
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: 3 School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University , Taipei, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Kai-Chiang
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: 4 Institute of Physics and Research , Center for Applied Science, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Keng-Hui
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 5 Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin , Austin, Texas.
authors.forename: Yen-Liang
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Taipei Tzu Chi Hospital , The Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, New Taipei City, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Ya-Ting
authors.initials: YT
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: 6 Graduate Institute of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, National Taiwan University , Taipei, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Tzong-Fu
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University , Hualien, Taiwan .|7 Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital , The Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation, Hualien, Taiwan .
authors.forename: Ing-Ho
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D045423:Microbubbles; D023421:Models, Animal; D011817:Rabbits; D012038:Regeneration; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*; D014945:Wound Healing