Engineering zonal cartilage through bioprinting collagen type II hydrogel constructs with biomimetic chondrocyte density gradient

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Research Article

Xiaoyuan Gong¹  Cheng Chen¹  Liu Yang¹  Fuyou Wang¹  Li Yin¹  Xiang Ren² 

[1] Center for Joint Surgery, Southwest Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, 400038, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China;Center for Joint Surgery, Southwest Hospital, the Third Military Medical University, 400038, Chongqing, People’s Republic of China;Orthopedic Department, 452nd Hospital Chinese PLA, 610021, Chengdu, Sichuan, People’s Republic of China;

关键词: Chondrocyte;    Collagen type II;    Hydrogel;    Cell density gradient;    Total cell density;    Biofabrication;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12891-016-1130-8

 received in 2015-12-27, accepted in 2016-06-29,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundCartilage tissue engineering is a promising approach for repairing and regenerating cartilage tissue. To date, attempts have been made to construct zonal cartilage that mimics the cartilaginous matrix in different zones. However, little attention has been paid to the chondrocyte density gradient within the articular cartilage. We hypothesized that the chondrocyte density gradient plays an important role in forming the zonal distribution of extracellular matrix (ECM).MethodsIn this study, collagen type II hydrogel/chondrocyte constructs were fabricated using a bioprinter. Three groups were created according to the total cell seeding density in collagen type II pre-gel: Group A, 2 × 107 cells/mL; Group B, 1 × 107 cells/mL; and Group C, 0.5 × 107 cells/mL. Each group included two types of construct: one with a biomimetic chondrocyte density gradient and the other with a single cell density. The constructs were cultured in vitro and harvested at 0, 1, 2, and 3 weeks for cell viability testing, reverse-transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR), biochemical assays, and histological analysis.ResultsWe found that total ECM production was positively correlated with the total cell density in the early culture stage, that the cell density gradient distribution resulted in a gradient distribution of ECM, and that the chondrocytes’ biosynthetic ability was affected by both the total cell density and the cell distribution pattern.ConclusionsOur results suggested that zonal engineered cartilage could be fabricated by bioprinting collagen type II hydrogel constructs with a biomimetic cell density gradient. Both the total cell density and the cell distribution pattern should be optimized to achieve synergistic biological effects.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2016