title: Cell-Free Hydrogel System Based on a Tissue-Specific Extracellular Matrix for In Situ Adipose Tissue Regeneration.
abstract: Well-designed scaffolds provide appropriate niches that can effectively recruit host cells and induce differentiation of recruited cells into the desired cell types, facilitating in situ tissue regeneration. Here we report a tissue-specific extracellular matrix (ECM) hydrogel composed of adipose-derived soluble ECM (sECM) and methylcellulose (MC) as a cell-free scaffold system for adipose tissue regeneration. The sECM-MC hydrogels showed a thermosensitive sol-gel phase transition and rapidly formed a soft hydrogel with a stiffness of 3.8 kPa at body temperature. An in vivo study showed that the sECM-MC hydrogel facilitated the infiltration of host cell populations, particularly adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) and adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) that directly contribute to the adipose tissue regeneration. Moreover, the hydrogel significantly enhanced host-derived adipogenesis and angiogenesis without exogenous cells or bioactive molecules. Our results indicate that the sECM-MC hydrogels provide mechanical and biochemical cues for host-derived adipose regeneration. Overall, the sECM-MC hydrogels are a highly promising cell-free therapeutic approach for in situ adipose tissue regeneration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University , Ansan, Gyeonggi-do 426-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Jun Sung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University , Ansan, Gyeonggi-do 426-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji Suk
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Hanyang University , Ansan, Gyeonggi-do 426-791, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Yong Woo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2075-4147
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D050156:Adipogenesis; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002474:Cell-Free System; D005109:Extracellular Matrix / Q000737:chemistry*; D020100:Hydrogels; D012038:Regeneration; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds
chemical_list: D020100:Hydrogels
keywords: adipose-derived soluble extracellular matrix; cell-free scaffold system; host cell recruitment; in situ adipose tissue regeneration; thermosensitive extracellular matrix hydrogel