Novel fiber-based pure chitosan scaffold for tendon augmentation: biomechanical and cell biological evaluation

Abstract

One possibility to improve the mechanical properties after tendon ruptures is augmentation with a scaffold. Based on wet spinning technology, chitosan fibres were processed to a novel pure high-grade multifilament yarn with reproducible quality. The fibres were braided to obtain a 3D tendon scaffold. The CS fibres and scaffolds were evaluated biomechanically and compared to human supraspinatus (SSP) tendons. For the cytobiological characterization, in vitro cell culture experiments with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) were performed. Three types of 3D circular braided scaffolds were fabricated. Significantly, higher ultimate stress values were measured for scaffold with larger filament yarn, compared to scaffold with smaller filament yarn. During cultivation over 28 days, the cells showed in dependence of isolation method and/or donor a doubling or tripling of the cell number or even a six-fold increase on the CS scaffold, which was comparable to the control (polystyrene) or in the case of cells obtained from human biceps tendon even higher proliferation rates. After 14 days, the scaffold surface was covered homogeneously with a cell layer. In summary, the present work demonstrates that braided chitosan scaffolds constitute a straightforward approach for designing tendon analogues, maintaining important flexibility in scaffold design and providing favourable mechanical properties of the resulting construct.

Living nanofiber yarn-based woven biotextiles for tendon tissue engineering using cell tri-culture and mechanical stimulation

“…The tensile strength (10.1±1.4 MPa in the nanofiber yarn direction, and 62.0±8.8 MPa in the multifilament yarn direction) and strain (45.3±8.2 % in the nanofiber yarn direction, and 40.9±4.0 % in the multifilament yarn direction) of the woven fabrics were comparable to the native human tendon [66, 67]. Nowotny et al reported a mean ultimate stress value of 3.9±0.7 MPa and mean ultimate strain value of 35.8±8.4 % for supraspinatus tendons [66]. Another study measured the tensile properties in different location of human supraspinatus tendons [67].…”

Spheroid formation and modulation of tenocyte-specific gene expression under simulated microgravity

“…These contructs consist of an acellular scaffold providing mechanical stability, and a seeded cell line providing regeneration and tissue function. Several scaffold materials have been used with some success so far, such as chitosan, silk fibroin, PLGA or decellularized cadaver tendons [1][2][3][4] . Compared to other cell lines such as skin fibroblast and adipose stem cells 5,6 , tenocytes seem highly suitable or scaffold seeding as the most original cell line 7 .…”

Optimization of cell growth on palmitoyl‐hyaluronan knitted scaffolds developed for tissue engineering applications

“…Moreover, many applications could be achieved by preparation of fibers in other textile forms using knitting, weaving, or braiding since the textile mimics important mechanical characteristics of native tissue. For example, the bundle of parallel fibers could serve as a template in nerve regeneration, braided 3 D scaffold in tendon regeneration or meshed scaffold in cartilage tissue repair, where HA can be naturally found. Nanofibers from various materials are often used for the same applications as scaffolds mimicking more accurately the native tissue .…”