Background Tendons play an important role in transferring stress between muscles and bones and in maintaining the stability of joints. Tendon tears are difficult to heal and are associated with high recurrence rates. So, the objective of this study was to develop a biodegradable scaffold for tendon-bone junction regeneration. Methods Two types of polylactic acid (PLA) yarns, having fibers with round and four deep grooved cross-sections, were braided into tubular scaffolds and cultured with murine Transforming growth factor beta type II receptor (Tgfbr2)-expressing joint progenitor cells. The scaffolds were designed to mimic the mechanical, immuno-chemical and biological properties of natural mouse tendon-bone junctions. Three different tubular scaffolds measuring 2 mm in diameter were braided on a Steeger 16-spindle braiding machine and biological and mechanical performance of the three scaffolds were evaluated. Results The mechanical test results indicated that three different braided scaffold structures provided a wide range of mechanical properties that mimic the components of tendon bone junction and results of the biological tests confirmed cell viability, active cell attachment and proliferation throughout all three scaffolds. Conclusions This study has identified that the three proposed types of braided scaffolds with some improvement in their structures have the potential to be used as scaffolds for the regeneration of a tendon bone tissue junction.

The use of tissue engineering to regenerate viable tissue relies on selecting the appropriate cell line, developing a resorbable scaffold and optimizing the culture conditions including the use of biomolecular cues and sometimes mechanical stimulation. This review of the literature focuses on the required scaffold properties, including the polymer material, the structural design, the total porosity, pore size distribution, mechanical performance, physical integrity in multiphase structures as well as surface morphology, rate of resorption and biocompatibility. The chapter will explain the unique advantages of using textile technologies for tissue engineering scaffold fabrication, and will delineate the differences in design, fabrication and performance of woven, warp and weft knitted, braided, nonwoven and electrospun scaffolds. In addition, it will explain how different types of tissues can be regenerated by each textile technology for a particular clinical application. The use of different synthetic and natural resorbable polymer fibers will be discussed, as well as the need for specialized finishing techniques such as heat setting, cross linking, coating and impregnation, depending on the tissue engineering application.

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