Meniscus‐shaped cell‐free polyglycolic acid scaffold for meniscal repair in a sheep model

Abstract

Since loss of meniscus is correlated with an increasing risk for osteoarthritis, meniscal scaffolds are proposed as new strategies. Development of a suitable scaffold has to take into account differing meniscus thickness, exposure to compressive and tensile forces combined with high porosity and biocompatibility of the material. After physical testing of three flat scaffolds composed of different modified polyglycolic acid (PGA) fibers, a three‐dimensional meniscus‐shaped PGA‐hyaluronan implant was generated. Micro‐computed tomography showed 90% porosity in the outer area with 50% in the inner area of the implant. Biocompatibility and expression of meniscus typical cartilaginous genes were shown for human meniscus cells cultivated in the implant with 10% human serum or 5% platelet‐rich plasma for 14 days in vitro. The proof‐of‐concept study in sheep demonstrated proteoglycan‐ and collagen type I‐rich repair tissue formation in partial meniscectomy combined with a meniscus‐shaped PGA‐hyaluronan implant after 6 months. In contrast, the control showed nearly no repair tissue formation. Thus, meniscus‐shaped PGA‐hyaluronan implants might be a suitable therapeutic approach to support repair tissue formation in partial meniscectomy.

Biosynthetic scaffolds for partial meniscal loss: A systematic review from animal models to clinical practice

“…Sixteen studies investigated natural scaffolds [ [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] ], 15 synthetic [ [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] ] and 15 hybrid natural/synthetic [ [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] , [63] , [64] , [65] , [66] ] ones ( Fig. 2 ).…”

“…2 ). Some of them were implanted without cells [ [21] , [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [26] , [27] , [28] , [29] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [52] , [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] , [57] , [58] , [59] , [60] , [61] , [62] ] and some with cells [ [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [45] , [46] , [47] , [48] , [49] , [50] , [51] , [63] , [64] , [65] , [66] ]. Twenty-one in vivo studies were conducted in rabbits [ 21 , [23] , [24] , [25] , 28 , 29 , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , 39 , 41 , 45 , 46 , [50] , [51] , [52] , [61] , [62] , [63] …”

“…The following cell-free scaffolds were investigated: decellularized meniscus extracellular matrix (DMECM) sponge and DMECM/PCL fiber [ 52 ]; Type I bovine Achilles tendon collagen sponge reinforced with p(DTDDD) fibers [ [53] , [54] , [55] , [56] ]; COLL–HA reinforced with PLLA fibers [ 57 ]; PCL/HA (70/30), augmented with PLA fibers or PET nets [ 58 ]; PGA/HA [ 59 ]; multi layered scaffold, composed by PHBV, HA and strontium ranelate, and durable cellulose fibers from Luffa cylindrical [ 60 ]; PCL (MW = 80 kDa) and PEO (50/50) electrospun nanofibrous and TEC [ 61 ]; PCL (MW = 65000) in which TGFβ3 and CTGF were encapsulated in PLGA μS [ 62 ]. The first scaffold of the aforementioned list induced the formation of a meniscus tissue with higher meniscus-like cells, covering area, regeneration, GAGs, COLL I and COLL II than empty defects.…”

Stem Cell-Friendly Scaffold Biomaterials: Applications for Bone Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine

“…Another disadvantage of PGA is its low mechanical strength. To overcome these drawbacks, PGA is usually used in a composite form with other biomaterials, such as HA (Dunne et al, 2010;Cojocaru et al, 2020). For example, Dunne et al found that PGA/HA composite scaffolds had good biodegradability and the proper porosity required for cellular infiltration and attachment (Dunne et al, 2010).…”

“…For example, Dunne et al found that PGA/HA composite scaffolds had good biodegradability and the proper porosity required for cellular infiltration and attachment (Dunne et al, 2010). PGAhyaluronan with high porosity was used in the three-dimensional culturing of meniscus cells, where the scaffold displayed good biocompatibility (Cojocaru et al, 2020).…”