title: PCL-PEG-PCL film promotes cartilage regeneration in vivo.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Management of chondral defects has long been a challenge due to poor self-healing capacity of articular cartilage. Many approaches, ranging from symptomatic treatment to structural cartilage regeneration, have obtained very limited satisfactory results. Cartilage tissue engineering, which involves optimized combination of novel scaffolds, cell sources and growth factors, has emerged as a promising strategy for cartilage regeneration and repair. In this study, the aim was to investigate the role of poly(ε-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL-PEG-PCL, PCEC) PCEC scaffold in cartilage repair.
  
  
  METHODS
  First, PCEC film was fabricated, and its characteristics were tested using SEM and AFM. Cell (rASC - rat adipose-derived stem cells, and mASCs - green fluorescent mouse adipose-derived stem cells) morphologies on PCEC film were observed using SEM and fluorescence microscopy, after cell seeding. Tests of cell viability on PCEC film were conducted using the CCK-8 assay. Furthermore, full cartilage defects in rats were created, and PCEC films were implanted, to evaluate their healing effects, over 8 weeks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that PCEC film, as a biomaterial implant, possessed good in vitro properties for cell adhesion, migration and proliferation. Importantly, in the in vivo experiment, PCEC film exhibited desirable healing outcomes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrated that PCEC film was a good scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering for improving cell proliferation and adhesion and could lead to excellent repair of cartilage defects.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.|School of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, PR China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Jinfeng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Shiyu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.
authors.forename: Taoran
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Shaanxi Province for Craniofacial Precision Medicine Research,College of Stomatology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shanxi, China.|Clinical Research Center of Shaanxi Province for Dental and Maxillofacial Diseases, College of Stomatology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shanxi, China.
authors.forename: Bofeng
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China. yunfenglin@scu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Yunfeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000166:cytology; D053687:Adult Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000166:cytology / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology / Q000502:physiology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D020219:Chondrogenesis; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012038:Regeneration; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D011091:Polyesters; C515340:poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-b-poly(ethyleneglycol)-b-poly(epsilon-caprolactone); D011092:Polyethylene Glycols