Purpose Meniscus is a fibrocartilagenous tissue that cannot effectively heal due to its complex structure and presence of avascular zone. Thus, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine offer an alternative for the regeneration of meniscus tissues using bioscaffolds as a replacement for the damaged one. The aim of this study was to prepare an ideal meniscus bioscaffold with minimal adverse effect on extracellular matrix components (ECMs) using a sonication treatment system. Methods The decellularization was achieved using a developed closed sonication treatment system for 10 hrs, and continued with a washing process for 5 days. For the control, a simple immersion treatment was set as a benchmark to compare the decellularization efficiency. Histological and biochemical assays were conducted to investigate the cell removal and retention of the vital extracellular matrix. Surface ultrastructure of the prepared scaffolds was evaluated using scanning electron microscope at 5,000× magnification viewed from cross and longitudinal sections. In addition, the biomechanical properties were investigated through ball indentation testing to study the stiffness, residual forces and compression characteristics. Statistical significance between the samples was determined with p -value =0.05. Results Histological and biochemical assays confirmed the elimination of antigenic cellular components with the retention of the vital extracellular matrix within the sonicated scaffolds. However, there was a significant removal of sulfated glycosaminoglycans. The surface histoarchitecture portrayed the preserved collagen fibril orientation and arrangement. However, there were minor disruptions on the structure, with few empty micropores formed which represented cell lacunae. The biomechanical properties of bioscaffolds showed the retention of viscoelastic behavior of the scaffolds which mimic native tissues. After immersion treatment, those scaffolds had poor results compared to the sonicated scaffolds due to the inefficiency of the treatment. Conclusion In conclusion, this study reported that the closed sonication treatment system had high capabilities to prepare ideal bioscaffolds with excellent removal of cellular components, and retained extracellular matrix and biomechanical properties.
Meniscus plays fundamental roles in the knee mechanisms and functions. It acts as a shock absorber where it enables even distribution of forces, and also lubricates knee joints. Meniscal injuries could result to the onset of degenerative osteoarthritis if proper treatments are delayed. To date, treatment of meniscal injuries are more towards conservative methods and surgical approach commonly known as meniscectomy. Attempts to develop scaffolds for meniscus implants from synthetic and biological sources have been done in the recent years. This approach involves a multidisciplinary study known as tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. It involves the combination of three crucial aspects; the choice of chondrogenic/stem cells, bioscaffolds and favourable environmental factors such as growth factors. This chapter discusses and highlights on the currently available meniscal scaffolds that have been explored before. Focus is also directed on the potential of decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM), prepared through sonication treatment that produced scaffolds which mimics natural meniscus. The evaluation of decellularized scaffolds was portrayed through recellularization using cells namely chondrocytes, fibrochondrocytes and stem cells in order to regenerate new functional tissue. In short, this chapter serves as a representation of current approaches aiming in bio-engineering the meniscal scaffolds as meniscus tissue replacement.
Meniscus plays fundamental roles in the knee mechanisms and functions but injuries happen in meniscus have poor healing ability that requires great interventions. Tissue engineered scaffolds serve as one of the interventions to regenerate the required tissue to treat early degenerative joint disease. The purpose of this research is to examine the effectiveness of sonication treatment system in complete cellular components removal with preserved extracellular matrix (ECM) compositions in meniscus tissues through histological and biochemical evaluations. Meniscus tissues
Fibrocartilage or known as meniscus tissues located in between the tibia and femur always subjected to extreme forces that can lead to injury especially for the sportsperson. The meniscal injury mean incidence in the general population is 66 per 100,000. The principal methods for the surgical management of fibrocartilage injury have been improvised from meniscectomy to meniscal repair and meniscal reconstruction that portrays different advantages and disadvantages in the short and long-term results. The inability to treat meniscus injury without osteoarthritis development in long-term results also motivates to find new treatment strategies. In this current era, the development of the multidisciplinary fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine provides new alternatives for the treatment approaches. This field involves the regeneration of the required tissue using scaffolds such as synthetic, natural, and biological scaffolds to restore the damaged one. Biological scaffolds are preferable because it tremendously mimics the native anatomical structure and has similar ratios and concentration of the proteins and growth factors that influence tissue repair and remodeling. The development of biological scaffolds with low immunogenic levels involves the decellularization process that eliminates all the cellular components while preserved the extracellular matrix (ECM) integrity and mechanics. In this review, the pros and cons of the recent decellularization strategies to engineer fibrocartilage scaffolds have been discussed. We believed that the ideal decellularization methods still need to be explored to develop suitable biological scaffolds that structurally and functionally mimic native tissue as a replacement for new tissue regeneration.
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