A cartilage tissue engineering approach combining starch-polycaprolactone fibre mesh scaffolds with bovine articular chondrocytes

Abstract

In the present work we originally tested the suitability of corn starch-polycaprolactone (SPCL) scaffolds for pursuing a cartilage tissue engineering approach. Bovine articular chondrocytes were seeded on SPCL scaffolds under dynamic conditions using spinner flasks (total of 4 scaffolds per spinner flask using cell suspensions of 0.5 x 10(6) cells/ml) and cultured under orbital agitation for a total of 6 weeks. Poly(glycolic acid) (PGA) non-woven scaffolds and bovine native articular cartilage were used as standard controls for the conducted experiments. PGA is a kind of standard in tissue engineering approaches and it was used as a control in that sense. The tissue engineered constructs were characterized at different time periods by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), hematoxylin-eosin (H&E) and toluidine blue stainings, immunolocalisation of collagen types I and II, and dimethylmethylene blue (DMB) assay for glycosaminoglycans (GAG) quantification assay. SEM results for SPCL constructs showed that the chondrocytes presented normal morphological features, with extensive cells presence at the surface of the support structures, and penetrating the scaffolds pores. These observations were further corroborated by H&E staining. Toluidine blue and immunohistochemistry exhibited extracellular matrix deposition throughout the 3D structure. Glycosaminoglycans, and collagen types I and II were detected. However, stronger staining for collagen type II was observed when compared to collagen type I. The PGA constructs presented similar features to SPCL at the end of the 6 weeks. PGA constructs exhibited higher amounts of matrix glycosaminoglycans when compared to the SPCL scaffolds. However, we also observed a lack of tissue in the central area of the PGA scaffolds. Reasons for these occurrences may include inefficient cells penetration, necrosis due to high cell densities, or necrosis related with acidic by-products degradation. Such situation was not detected in the SPCL scaffolds, indicating the much better biocompatibility of the starch based scaffolds.

Biomaterials to Prevascularize Engineered Tissues

“…It is biocompatible in vitro, and is a highly interconnected porous scaffold with good mechanical properties [83,84]. HUVECs can be cultured on a SPCL scaffold resulting in capillary-like structures and expression of endothelial specific markers [85,86].…”

Medium Flow Rate Regulates Viability and Barrier Function of Engineered Skin Substitutes in Perfusion Culture

“…Several strategies have been devised to culture 3-dimensional engineered tissues in dynamic fluid flow conditions, including spinner flasks, [8][9][10][11][12][13] rotating wall vessels, 8,[14][15][16] and perfusion culture. 17 In perfusion culture, there is continuous flow of medium through or around the constructs that closely approximates the physiological conditions in the body.…”

Stem Cell-Based Repair and Regeneration of Articular Cartilage

“…Critical parameters for tissue engineering scaffolds include biocompatibility, biodegradability, optimal mechanical strength, and the ability to regulate appropriate cellular activities [48]. Many commonly investigated synthetic scaffolds in cartilage repair are fabricated using α-hydroxy polyesters, including polyglycolic acid (PGA), poly-L-lactic acid (PLA), the copolymer poly-DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), and poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) [49][50][51][52][53]. While in vivo, eventually the scaffold will degrade, in turn providing more space to allow seeded cells to proliferate and deposit newly synthesized ECM [48].…”