Effect of pore size on in vitro cartilage formation using chitosan‐based hyaluronic acid hybrid polymer fibers

Abstract

In this study, we successfully developed three-dimensional scaffolds fabricated from the chitosan-based hyaluronic acid hybrid polymer fibers, which can control the porous structure. To determine the adequate pore size for enhancing the chondrogenesis of cultured cells, we compared the behaviors of rabbit chondrocytes in scaffolds comprising different pore sizes (100, 200, and 400 microm pore size). Regarding the cell proliferation, there was no significant difference among the three groups. On the other hand, glycosaminoglycan contents in the 400 microm group significantly increased during the culture period, compared with those in the other groups. The ratio of type II to type I collagen mRNA level was also significantly higher in the 400 microm group than in the other groups. These results indicate that our scaffold with 400 microm pore size significantly enhances the extracellular matrix synthesis by chondrocytes. Additionally, the current scaffolds showed high mechanical properties, compared with liquid and gel materials. The data derived from this study suggest great promise for the future of a novel fabricated material with relatively large pore size as a scaffold for cartilage regeneration. The biological and mechanical advantages presented here will make it possible to apply our scaffold to relatively wide cartilaginous lesions.

The Effect of Scaffold Pore Size in Cartilage Tissue Engineering

“…An appropriate physicochemical environment that accounts for a physiological intracellular stress state deriving from the cell-biomaterial interaction may favor the recovery of a phenotypic cell expression (1,2). The maintenance of such a physiological adhesive configuration, which is primarily related to the microarchitecture of the scaffold, (8,12,13,(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). However, some results have indicated that chondrocyte phenotype and biosynthetic activity improved in collagen matrices containing smaller pores (28,29).…”

Influence of lyophilization factors and gelatin concentration on pore structures of atelocollagen/gelatin sponge biomaterial

“…Good designs of biomaterial scaffolds for mechanical functions and mass transport of nutrients have been proven important for tissue regeneration 2,3) . Porous scaffolds had several superior properties, especially for the exchange of nutrients and metabolites in and out of scaffolds and for promoting cell growth and differentiation on the scaffolds [4][5][6][7] . Various methods have been developed to fabricate porous scaffolds, such as solvent casting/ particulate leaching 8) , high-pressure processing 9) , gas foaming/particulate leaching 10) , thermally induced phase separation 11) , etc.…”

Chitosan-Based Hyaluronic Acid Hybrid Polymer Fibers as a Scaffold Biomaterial for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

“…From the chitosan-based HA hybrid polymer fibers, which are introduced with 0.07% hyaluronic acid, the 3D scaffolds with three different pore sizes (100, 200, and 400 μm diameter) were woven by using the original apparatus (Figure 4). The effects on the ECM products of each scaffold material are summarized in Table 4 [17]. The obtained data suggested that the current scaffold with 400 μm pore size significantly increased ECM synthesis by cultured chondrocytes.…”

“…Unfortunately, most scaffolds developed to date for cartilage regeneration conform to only one of these requirements. To meet these biomechanical and biological requirements, the authors have developed a novel three-dimensional (3D) scaffold fabricated from chitosan-based hyaluronic acid (HA) hybrid polymer fibers [16][17][18]. Previous studies have shown that cellular functions differ in 3D and two-dimensional culture systems [19,20].…”

“…This review is based on the data derived from our previous in vivo and in vitro studies [16][17][18]21]. In this paper, statistical comparisons were performed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Fisher's PLSD tests.…”