Version 1
: Received: 3 August 2023 / Approved: 3 August 2023 / Online: 4 August 2023 (08:36:15 CEST)
How to cite:
Roncada, T.; Blunn, G.; Roldo, M. Hydrogels as a Growth Factor-Free Strategy for Cartilage Tissue Engineering. Preprints2023, 2023080367. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0367.v1
Roncada, T.; Blunn, G.; Roldo, M. Hydrogels as a Growth Factor-Free Strategy for Cartilage Tissue Engineering. Preprints 2023, 2023080367. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0367.v1
Roncada, T.; Blunn, G.; Roldo, M. Hydrogels as a Growth Factor-Free Strategy for Cartilage Tissue Engineering. Preprints2023, 2023080367. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0367.v1
APA Style
Roncada, T., Blunn, G., & Roldo, M. (2023). Hydrogels as a Growth Factor-Free Strategy for Cartilage Tissue Engineering. Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0367.v1
Chicago/Turabian Style
Roncada, T., Gordon Blunn and Marta Roldo. 2023 "Hydrogels as a Growth Factor-Free Strategy for Cartilage Tissue Engineering" Preprints. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202308.0367.v1
Abstract
Focal cartilage defects are a prevalent knee problem affecting people of all ages. Due to its avascular nature, cartilage has limited self-repair capacity, and osteochondral defects can lead to pain and long-term complications such as osteoarthritis. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) has been a successful surgical approach for repairing osteochondral defects over the past two decades. However, a major drawback of ACI is the de-differentiation of chondrocytes during their in vitro expansion. In this study, we isolated ovine chondrocytes and cultured them in a two-dimensional environment as for ACI procedures. We hypothesised that the 3D scaffolds would support the cells re-differentiation without the need for growth factors and so we encapsulated them into soft collagen and alginate (col/alg) hydrogels. Chondrocytes embedded into hydrogels were viable and proliferated. After 7 days they acquired a rounded morphology and started to aggregate. Gene expression studies showed that the genes associated with chondrogenesis started to be up regulated as early as day one. At 21 days chondrocytes had extensively colonized the hydrogel, forming large cell clusters and started to deposit collagen II and aggrecan with limited collagen type I deposition. These findings highlight the potential of soft col/alg hydrogels to enhance ACI outcomes by creating a favourable microenvironment for chondrocyte reprogramming and re-differentiation, eliminating the dependency on growth factors.
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
