Ligament Tissue Engineering Using Synthetic Biodegradable Fiber Scaffolds

Abstract

Tissue engineering offers the possibility of replacing damaged human ligaments with engineered ligament tissues. Hence, we attempted to culture in vitro ligament tissues by seeding human anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL) cells onto synthetic biodegradable polymer fiber scaffolds. The ACL and MCL cells readily attached to the scaffold fibers. These cells and their secreted matrix soon surrounded the scaffold fibers and bridged the gaps in between. Beginning at 2 weeks, portions of the scaffolds were completely filled with tissue matrix. By 5 weeks, the scaffolds became single bundles of tissue. Thus the cell/fiber system appears to be a viable system for culturing ligament tissues. Additionally, cell proliferation under mechanical and biochemical stimuli was studied for up to 4 days. Whereas mechanical stimulus and transforming growth factor enhanced proliferation, inflammatory agents (lipopolysaccharide and complement C5a) had a negative effect. This work can thus contribute to a sound strategy for culturing replacement ligament tissues in vitro.

The Effects of GDF-5 and Uniaxial Strain on Mesenchymal Stem Cells in 3-D Culture

“…However, in comparison to patellar tendon-derived fibroblasts [25], skin-derived fibroblasts [5], and MCL-derived fibroblasts [34], ACL-derived fibroblasts have limited proliferative capacity [5,25,34]. In fact, BMSCs may be superior to these candidates as targets for tissue-engineering applications, as BMSCs had higher collagen production and DNA content after seeding on polylactide/glycolide (PLGA) suture material than ACL or skin fibroblasts [47].…”

“…Some approaches involve materials currently used as suture material, including processed silk fibers [1,12] and bioabsorbable polymers [7,34]. Biologic substrates, including collagen gels [2,6,27], hyaluronan [17], and alginate/chitosan polymers [36] have also been used.…”

Biomimetic Architectures for Tissue Engineering

“…The high tensile strength of this configuration and elastic properties of the collagen fibrils allow for controlled movement and joint stability. Mechanical trauma disrupting the integrity of the ligament produces significant joint dysfunction resulting in abnormal kinematics and potentially long term degenerative joint diseases (Lin, Lee et al 1999). Conventional reconstructive surgical procedures using autografts have had limited success (Arnoczky, Tarvin et al 1982).…”

Synthesis, characterization and chondroprotective properties of a hyaluronan thioethyl ether derivative

“…The next day, the media was replaced with DMEM/F12 containing 1.5%, 1%, 0.6%, 0.2% and 0.1% HA and HASH, respectively. Cells were incubated for an additional 24 h and cell viability in the presence or absence of HASH was assessed using a previously described biochemical method [44]. The tetrazolium compound MTS (Cell-Titer 96 Aqueous One Solution Cell Proliferation Assay, Promega, Madison, WI) is reduced by metabolically active cells to yield a colored formazan product, and the absorption of the colored solution at 490 nm is proportional to the number of viable cells.…”