Journal
BIOMATERIALS
Volume 35, Issue 7, Pages 2140-2148Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2013.11.031
Keywords
Tissue engineering; Hyaluronic acid; Hydrogels; Cartilage; Integration; Maturation
Funding
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases of the National Institutes of Health [R01 EB008722, F32 AR062971]
- Department of Veterans Affairs [101 RX000700]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Given the limitations of current surgical approaches to treat articular cartilage injuries, tissue engineering (TE) approaches have been aggressively pursued. Despite reproduction of key mechanical attributes of native tissue, the ability of TE cartilage constructs to integrate with native tissue must also be optimized for clinical success. In this paper, we propose a trajectory-based tissue engineering (TB-TE) approach, based on the hypothesis that time-dependent increases in construct maturation in-vitro prior to implantation (i.e. positive rates) may provide a reliable predictor of in-vivo success. As an example TE system, we utilized hyaluronic acid hydrogels laden with mesenchymal stem cells. We first modeled the maturation of these constructs in-vitro to capture time-dependent changes. We then performed a sensitivity analysis of the model to optimize the timing and amount of data collection. Finally, we showed that integration to cartilage in-vitro is not correlated to the maturation state of TE constructs, but rather their maturation rate, providing a proof-of-concept for the use of TB-TE to enhance treatment outcomes following cartilage injury. This new approach challenges the traditional TE paradigm of matching only native state parameters of maturity and emphasizes the importance of also establishing an in-vitro trajectory in constructs in order to improve the chance of in-vivo success. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available