Experimental study on repair of cartilage defects in the rabbits with GelMA-MSCs scaffold prepared by three-dimensional bioprinting

Abstract

Cartilage damage is a common orthopedic disease, which can be caused by sports injury, obesity, joint wear, and aging, and cannot be repaired by itself. Surgical autologous osteochondral grafting is often required in deep osteochondral lesions to avoid the later progression of osteoarthritis. In this study, we fabricated a gelatin methacryloyl-marrow mesenchymal stem cells (GelMA-MSCs) scaffold by three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting. This bioink is capable of fast gel photocuring and spontaneous covalent cross-linking, which can maintain high viability of MSCs and provide a benign microenvironment to promote the interaction, migration, and proliferation of cells. In vivo experiments, further, proved that the 3D bioprinting scaffold can promote the regeneration of cartilage collagen fibers and have a remarkable effect on cartilage repair of rabbit cartilage injury model, which may represent a general and versatile strategy for precise engineering of cartilage regeneration system.

Photo-cross-linked Hydrogels for Cartilage and Osteochondral Repair

“…82 A low concentration (5%) of GelMA was more favorable for MSC chondrogenic differentiation than a high concentration (10%). 77 SilMA has high porosity, but its pore size is small; the average pore size of SilMA is 2.29 ± 0.77 μm 2 . 60 The pore size of MAC ranged from 5 to 25 μm 2 , and it was increased when the concentration of CH decreased.…”

“…54 However, when the concentration of polymer was too high (for example, the concentration of GelMA >10%), the high concentration polymer could form a denser cross-linked network inside the hydrogel, which would limit cell growth and migration. 77 The mechanical properties of hydrogels are key factors in determining suitable conditions for stem cell differentiation. Li et al reported an enhancement in the osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation abilities of BMSCs with increasing viscoelasticity.…”

“…As the polymer concentration increased, the compressive strength of the hydrogel increased, with a corresponding increase in cell adhesion and cell viability . However, when the concentration of polymer was too high (for example, the concentration of GelMA >10%), the high concentration polymer could form a denser cross-linked network inside the hydrogel, which would limit cell growth and migration . The mechanical properties of hydrogels are key factors in determining suitable conditions for stem cell differentiation.…”

“…Lin et al reported that the pore size can affect the stiffness of photo-cross-linked hydrogels, thereby affecting the proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) . A low concentration (5%) of GelMA was more favorable for MSC chondrogenic differentiation than a high concentration (10%) . SilMA has high porosity, but its pore size is small; the average pore size of SilMA is 2.29 ± 0.77 μm 2 .…”

Integrating bioprinting, cell therapies and drug delivery towards in vivo regeneration of cartilage, bone and osteochondral tissue

“…Regarding the cell source, when using stem cells in co-culture with CCs or in mono-culture, most of the papers report positive outcomes in cartilage formation when using BMSCs in 3D bioprinted constructs implanted in subcutaneous mouse models and in orthotopic rabbit models [ 68 – 71 , 73 – 75 ]. As an alternative, Di Bella et al [ 76 ] used adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) isolated from the infra-patellar fat pad in a pilot study based on the orthotopic implantation in sheep.…”