Investigating cellulose derived glycosaminoglycan mimetic scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering applications.
Articular cartilage has a limited capacity to heal and, currently, no treatment exists that can restore normal hyaline cartilage. Creating tissue engineering scaffolds that more closely mimic the native extracellular matrix may be an attractive approach. Glycosaminoglycans, which are present in native cartilage tissue, provide signalling and structural cues to cells. This study evaluated the use of a glycosaminoglycan mimetic, derived from cellulose, as a potential scaffold for cartilage repair applications. Fully sulfated sodium cellulose sulfate (NaCS) was initially evaluated in soluble form as an additive to cell culture media. Human mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) chondrogenesis in pellet culture was enhanced with 0.01% NaCS added to induction media as demonstrated by significantly higher gene expression for type II collagen and aggrecan. NaCS was combined with gelatine to form fibrous scaffolds using the electrospinning technique. Scaffolds were characterized for fibre morphology, overall hydrolytic stability, protein/growth factor interaction and for supporting MSC chondrogenesis in vitro. Scaffolds immersed in phosphate buffered saline for up to 56 days had no changes in swelling and no dissolution of NaCS as compared to day 0. Increasing concentrations of the model protein lysozyme and transforming growth factor-β3 were detected on scaffolds with increasing concentrations of NaCS (p < 0.05). MSC chondrogenesis was enhanced on the scaffold with the lowest NaCS concentration as seen with the highest collagen type II production, collagen type II immunostaining, and expression of cartilage-specific genes. These studies demonstrate the feasibility of cellulose sulfate as a scaffolding material for cartilage tissue engineering. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
G Portocarrero
GP
Huang
Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
A
A
Molina
Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
N
N
Tran
Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
G
G
Collins
Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA.
Treena Livingston
TL
Arinzeh
D053674:Aggrecans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002417:Cattle; D002482:Cellulose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024121:Collagen Type X / Q000378:metabolism; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006801:Humans; D009113:Muramidase / Q000378:metabolism; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D013718:Tensile Strength; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds / Q000737:chemistry*
D053674:Aggrecans; D024043:Collagen Type II; D024121:Collagen Type X; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D002482:Cellulose; C020254:cellulose sulfate; D009113:Muramidase
biomimetic; cellulose sulfate; chondrogenesis; electrospinning; mesenchymal stem cells; transforming growth factor-β