Lithium Chloride-Releasing 3D Printed Scaffold for Enhanced Cartilage Regeneration

Abstract

Background We synthetized a 3D printed poly-ɛ-caprolactone (PCL) scaffold with polydopamine (PDA) coating and lithium chloride (LiCl) deposition for cartilage tissue engineering and analyzed its effect on promoting rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (rBMSC) chondrogenesis in vitro . Material/Methods PCL scaffolds were prepared by 3D printing with a well-designed CAD digital model, then modified by PDA coating to produce PCL-PDA scaffolds. Finally, LiCl was deposited on the PDA coating to produce PCL-PDA-Li scaffolds. The physicochemical properties, bioactivity, and biocompatibility of PCL-PDA-Li scaffolds were accessed by comparing them with PCL scaffolds and PCL-PDA scaffolds. Results 3D PCL scaffolds exhibited excellent mechanical integrity as designed. PDA coating and LiCl deposition improved surface hydrophilicity without sacrificing mechanical strength. Li + release was durable and ion concentration did not reach the cytotoxicity level. This in vitro study showed that, compared to PCL scaffolds, PCL-PDA and PCL-PDA-Li scaffolds significantly increased glycosaminoglycan (GAG) formation and chondrogenic marker gene expression, while PCL-PDA-Li scaffolds showed far higher rBMSC viability and chondrogenesis. Conclusions 3D printed PCL-PDA-Li scaffolds promoted chondrogenesis in vitro and may provide a good method for lithium administration and be a potential candidate for cartilage tissue engineering.

3D-Printed PCL Composite Scaffolds Incorporating IGF-1 Loaded PLGA Nanoparticles for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

“…[30] Lower contact angle showed better hydrophilicity, as rBMSCs and chondrocytes were cultured in an aqueous environment. [2] Our results show that the incorporation of PDA and PLGA nanoparticles into the PCL scaffold significantly decreased the contact angle of the pure PCL which can provided a much better biomimetic extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment. While the pore size, porosity and compressive strength were retained, which provide an appropriate pore space to facilitate cell infiltration and nutrition supply, and is suitable to withstand the forces on the joint.…”

“…As cartilage is a tissue with poor capacity of regeneration, cartilage tissue engineering offers the ability to repair cartilage by combining cells, scaffolds, and signals. [1,2] Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) has been extensively researched for its ability to encourage cell proliferation, inhibition of cell apoptosis, and anabolic effects on musculoskeletal tissues. [3][4][5][6][7][8] It has been demonstrated that IGF-1 is an anabolic growth factor that is very important in cartilage development and homeostasis.…”

“…[22] However, PCL is known for its hydrophobic nature, which can result in decreased cell-material interaction. [2,8] Polydopamine (PDA) coating is widely used and easily prepared. Surface modification with PDA helps improve hydrophilicity and cellular performance of PCL scaffolds, such as cell adhesion, proliferation, and chondrogenetic differentiation, while maintaining or even improving the physical properties and structure, [2] and can form a tightly adhered coating on the surface of many organic or inorganic materials.…”

“…[2,8] Polydopamine (PDA) coating is widely used and easily prepared. Surface modification with PDA helps improve hydrophilicity and cellular performance of PCL scaffolds, such as cell adhesion, proliferation, and chondrogenetic differentiation, while maintaining or even improving the physical properties and structure, [2] and can form a tightly adhered coating on the surface of many organic or inorganic materials. [18,23] Given this background, we aimed to develop a 3D-printed PCL scaffold coated with IGF-1 laden PLGA nanoparticles for cartilage regeneration.…”

A lithium-containing biomaterial promotes chondrogenic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells with reducing hypertrophy

“…It was most likely that Li + ions in L2C4S4 played the principal role. As previous studies have shown that Lireleasing biomaterials could induce chondrogenic differentiation, hyaline cartilaginous matrix formation [33] and enhance cartilage regeneration [34], our L2C4S4 bioceramics is also expected to be applicable to clinical cartilage repair due to the good release capacity of Li + ions.…”