Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
Volume 21, Issue 16, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijms21165798
Keywords
jellyfish collagen; composite injectable hydrogel; enzymatic cross-linking; cartilage; chondrocytes; differentiation; gene expression
Funding
- H2020 DRIVE [645991]
- H2020 FutForm [691128]
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Cartilage is an avascular tissue with limited ability of self-repair. The use of autologous chondrocyte transplants represent an effective strategy for cell regeneration; however, preserving the differentiated state, which ensures the ability to regenerate damaged cartilage, represents the main challenge duringin vitroculturing. For this purpose, we produced an injectable marine collagen-based hydrogel, by mixing native collagen from the jellyfishRhizostoma pulmowith hydroxy-phenyl-propionic acid (HPA)-functionalized marine gelatin. This biocompatible hydrogel formulation, due to the ability of enzymatically reticulate using horseradish peroxidase (HPR) and H2O2, gives the possibility of trap cells inside, in the absence of cytotoxic effects, during the cross-linking process. Moreover, it enables the modulation of the hydrogel stiffness merely varying the concentration of H(2)O(2)without changes in the concentration of polymer precursors. The maintenance of differentiated chondrocytes in culture was then evaluated via morphological analysis of cell phenotype, GAG production and cytoskeleton organization. Additionally, gene expression profiling of differentiation/dedifferentiation markers provided evidence for the promotion of the chondrogenic gene expression program. This, combined with the biochemical properties of marine collagen, represents a promising strategy for maintainingin vitrothe cellular phenotype in the aim of the use of autologous chondrocytes in regenerative medicine practices.
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