Mussel-inspired extracellular matrix-mimicking hydrogel scaffold with high cell affinity and immunomodulation ability for growth factor-free cartilage regeneration

Journal of Orthopaedic Translation

Yanan Jiang¹  Xiao Wang²  Donglin Gan²  Qiguang Wang²  Yuelin Hu²  Lu Han²  Kefeng Wang³  Chaoming Xie³  Xiong Lu⁴ 

[1] Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Biomedical Functional Materials, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Bio-functional Materials, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing, 210023, Jiangsu, China;Key Lab of Advanced Technologies of Materials, Ministry of Education, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031, Sichuan, China;National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, Sichuan, China;School of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Laboratory for Marine Drugs and Bioproducts, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, Shandong, China;

关键词: Hydrogel;    Mussel-inspired strategy;    Extracellular matrix mimicking;    Cell affinity;    Cartilage regeneration;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Background: Injury to articular cartilage cause certain degree of disability due to poor self-repair ability of cartilage tissue. To promote cartilage regeneration, it is essential to develop a scaffold that properly mimics the native cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM) in the aspect of compositions and functions. Methods: A mussel-inspired strategy was developed to construct an ECM-mimicking hydrogel scaffold by incorporating polydopamine-modified hyaluronic acid (PDA/HA) complex into a dual-crosslinked collagen (Col) matrix for growth factor-free cartilage regeneration. The adhesion, proliferation, and chondrogenic differentiation of cells on the scaffold were examined. A well-established full-thickness cartilage defect model of the knee in rabbits was used to evaluated the efficacy and functionality of the engineered Col/PDA/HA hydrogel scaffold. Results: The PDA/HA complex incorporated-hydrogel scaffold with catechol moieties exhibited better cell affinity than bare negatively-charged HA incorporated hydrogel scaffold. In addition, the PDA/HA complex endowed the scaffold with immunomodulation ability, which suppressed the expression of inflammatory cytokines and effectively activated the polarization of macrophages toward M2 phenotypes. The in vivo results revealed that the mussel-inspired Col/PDA/HA hydrogel scaffold showed strong cartilage inducing ability to promote cartilage regeneration. Conclusions: The PDA/HA complex-incorporated hydrogel scaffold overcame the cell repellency of negatively-charged polysaccharide-based scaffolds, which facilitated the adhesion and clustering of cells on the scaffold, and therefore enhanced cell-HA interactions for efficient chondrogenic differentiation. Moreover, the hydrogel scaffold modulated immune microenvironment, and created a regenerative microenvironment to enhance cartilage regeneration. The translational potential of this article: This study gives insight into the mussel-inspired approach to construct the tissue-inducing hydrogel scaffold in a growth-factor-free manner, which show great advantage in the clinical treatment. The hydrogel scaffold composed of collagen and hyaluronic acid as the major component, providing cartilage ECM-mimicking environment, is promising for cartilage defect repair.

【 授权许可】

Unknown