Journal
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
Volume 8, Issue 10, Pages 3687-3694Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.actbio.2012.06.005
Keywords
Meniscus; Tissue engineering; Growth factors; Scaffolds
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [R01 AR056624]
- Penn Center for Musculoskeletal Disorders [P30 AR050950]
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Few therapeutic options exist for meniscus repair after injury. Local delivery of growth factors may stimulate repair and create a favorable environment for engineered replacement materials. In this study we assessed the effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) (a pro-mitotic agent) and transforming growth factor beta 3 (TGF-beta) (a pro-matrix formation agent) on meniscus repair and the integration/maturation of electrospun poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds for meniscus tissue engineering. Circular meniscus repair constructs were formed and refilled with either native tissue or scaffolds. Repair constructs were cultured in serum-containing medium for 4 and 8 weeks with various growth factor formulations, and assessed for mechanical strength, biochemical content, and histological appearance. Results showed that either short-term delivery of bFGF or sustained delivery of TGF-beta 3 increased integration strength for both juvenile and adult bovine tissue, with similar findings for engineered materials. While TGF-beta 3 increased proteoglycan content in the explants, bFGF did not increase DNA content after 8 weeks of culture. This work suggests that in vivo delivery of bFGF or TGF-beta 3 may stimulate meniscus repair, but that the time course of delivery will strongly influence success. Further, this study demonstrates that electrospun scaffolds are a promising material for meniscus tissue engineering, achieving comparable or superior integration compared with native tissue. (C) 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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