A tissue engineered osteochondral plug: an in vitro morphological evaluation

Abstract

Articular cartilage lesions have a poor intrinsic healing potential. The repair tissue is often fibrous, having insufficient biomechanical properties, which could frequently lead to the development of early osteoarthritis. In the last decade, tissue engineering approaches addressed this topic in order to restore joint function with a differentiated and functional tissue. Many biomaterials and techniques have been proposed and some of them applied in clinical practice, even though several concerns have been raised on the quality of the engineered tissue and on its integration in the host joint. In this study, we focused on engineering in vitro a biphasic composite made of cellular fibrin glue and a calcium-phosphate scaffold. Biphasic composites are the latest products of tissue engineering applied to articular cartilage and they seem to allow a more efficient integration of the engineered tissue with the host. However, a firm in vitro bonding between the two components of the composite is a necessary condition to validate this model. Our study demonstrated a gross and microscopic integration of the two components and a cartilage-like quality of the newly formed matrix. Moreover, we noticed an improvement of this integration and GAGs production during the in vitro culture.

Nanoengineered biomaterials for repair and regeneration of orthopedic tissue interfaces

“…In independently assembled structures, two discrete scaffolds of bone and cartilage are made individually and then connected before or during implantation. [74] On the contrary, integrated bilayered structures are synthesized as a composite of two different materials. [54] Although the aforementioned strategies are promising, they lack the micro-and nanostructural resemblance to native interface tissues and selection of biomaterials play an active role in determining the healing outcome.…”

Reconstruct large osteochondral defects of the knee with hIGF-1 gene enhanced Mosaicplasty

“…At the donor sites, multiple cells embedded within the gel integrated with the adjacent cartilage well, and filled deeply into the defects, leaving a regular surface. The ultimate success for repair osteochondral defects may require the integration with surrounding cartilage in order to maintain biomechanical integrity [1,11,15,37]. That means no "dead space" would be more valuable to the ultimate long-term outcome.…”

Multiphasic Scaffolds for Periodontal Tissue Engineering

“…A great variety of materials are available for developing an appropriate bone compartment. Commonly utilized solutions include biodegradable polymeric scaffolds that may be combined with osteoconductive bioceramic particles and natural biopolymers (Frenkel et al ., 2005; Ho et al ., 2010; Wang et al ., 2010), rapid prototyped porous polymeric or metal structures (Mrosek et al ., 2010), bioceramics that can also be combined with a polymeric matrix for enhanced flexibility (Scotti et al ., 2007), and porous cross-linked collagen scaffolds (Kon et al ., 2010). The cartilage compartment is generally composed of a soft material, such as a hydrogel (alginate, chitosan, collagen type I and II), although synthetic polymers have also been reported (Harley et al ., 2010; Kon et al ., 2010; Chen et al ., 2011; Jeon et al ., 2014).…”