TY - JOUR
T1 - Engineering of optimized hydrogel formulations for cartilage repair
AU - Fu, Yao
AU - Zoetebier, Bram
AU - Both, Sanne
AU - Dijkstra, Pieter J.
AU - Karperien, Marcel
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: This project is supported by the European Commission H2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) Project “Future Formulations (FutForm)”, Hy2Care, and the China Scholarship Council. The authors would like to thank Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) P15-23 (Project 1) “Activating resident stem cells” for providing financial support to this project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Financial transaction number:
342121315
PY - 2021/5/10
Y1 - 2021/5/10
N2 - The ideal scaffold for cartilage regeneration is expected to provide adequate mechanical strength, controlled degradability, adhesion, and integration with the surrounding native tissue. As it does this, it mimics natural ECMs functions, which allow for nutrient diffusion and promote cell survival and differentiation. Injectable hydrogels based on tyramine (TA)-functionalized hyaluronic acid (HA) and dextran (Dex) are a promising approach for cartilage regeneration. The properties of the hydrogels used in this study were adjusted by varying polymer concentrations and ratios. To investigate the changes in properties and their effects on cellular behavior and cartilage matrix formation, different ratios of HA-and dextran-based hybrid hydrogels at both 5 and 10% w/v were prepared using a designed mold to control generation. The results indicated that the incorporation of chondrocytes in the hydrogels decreased their mechanical properties. However, rheological and compression analysis indicated that 5% w/v hydrogels laden with cells exhibit a significant increase in mechanical properties after 21 days when the constructs are cultured in a chondrogenic differentiation medium. Moreover, compared to the 10% w/v hydrogels, the 5% w/v hybrid hydrogels increased the deposition of the cartilage matrix, especially in constructs with a higher Dex–TA content. These results indicated that 5% w/v hybrid hydrogels with 25% HA–TA and 75% Dex–TA have a high potential as injectable scaffolds for cartilage tissue regeneration.
AB - The ideal scaffold for cartilage regeneration is expected to provide adequate mechanical strength, controlled degradability, adhesion, and integration with the surrounding native tissue. As it does this, it mimics natural ECMs functions, which allow for nutrient diffusion and promote cell survival and differentiation. Injectable hydrogels based on tyramine (TA)-functionalized hyaluronic acid (HA) and dextran (Dex) are a promising approach for cartilage regeneration. The properties of the hydrogels used in this study were adjusted by varying polymer concentrations and ratios. To investigate the changes in properties and their effects on cellular behavior and cartilage matrix formation, different ratios of HA-and dextran-based hybrid hydrogels at both 5 and 10% w/v were prepared using a designed mold to control generation. The results indicated that the incorporation of chondrocytes in the hydrogels decreased their mechanical properties. However, rheological and compression analysis indicated that 5% w/v hydrogels laden with cells exhibit a significant increase in mechanical properties after 21 days when the constructs are cultured in a chondrogenic differentiation medium. Moreover, compared to the 10% w/v hydrogels, the 5% w/v hybrid hydrogels increased the deposition of the cartilage matrix, especially in constructs with a higher Dex–TA content. These results indicated that 5% w/v hybrid hydrogels with 25% HA–TA and 75% Dex–TA have a high potential as injectable scaffolds for cartilage tissue regeneration.
KW - Cartilage regeneration
KW - Hydrogel scaffolds
KW - Matrix formation
KW - Mechanical properties
KW - Stem cells
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106576710&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/polym13091526
DO - 10.3390/polym13091526
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85106576710
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 13
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 9
M1 - 1526
ER -