Multifunctional injectable hydrogel for effective promotion of cartilage regeneration and protection against osteoarthritis: combined chondroinductive, antioxidative and anti-inflammatory strategy

Abstract

The regeneration of the articular cartilage defects is characterized by the improvement in the quality of the repaired tissue and the reduction in the potential development of perifocal osteoarthritis (OA). Usually, the injection of dexamethasone (Dex) in the OA joints slows down the progression of inflammation and relieves pain. However, the anti-inflammatory Dex injected in the joint cavity is rapidly cleared, leading to a poor therapeutic effect. Multifunctional hydrogels with simultaneous chondrogenic differentiation, antioxidative, and anti-inflammatory capacities may represent a promising solution. Therefore, in this work, a novel injectable hydrogel based on double cross-linking of Schiff base bonds and coordination of catechol-Fe was developed. The obtained hydrogel (Gel-DA/DOHA/DMON@Dex@Fe) possessed molding performance in situ, excellent mechanical strength, controllable biodegradability, the on-demand release of the drug, and biocompatibility. The hydrogel system stimulated the HIF-1α signaling pathway and suppressed inflammation thanks to the introduction of DMON@Fe, consequently facilitating chondrogenic differentiation. The synergistic anti-inflammatory effect together with the induction of chondrogenesis by Dex-loaded Gel-DA/DOHA/DMON@Fe hydrogel allowed the promotion of cartilage repair, as demonstrated by in vivo experiments. Hence, the proposed multifunctional scaffold provides a promising advancement in articular cartilage tissue engineering and may have great prospects in the prevention of OA.

Mussel-inspired HA@TA-CS/SA biomimetic 3D printed scaffolds with antibacterial activity for bone repair

“…In addition, the higher the mass fraction of DMON@Cur particles added, the apparent viscosity of the slurry was slightly reduced, but the effect was not significant. Frequency scans ( Figure 6B ) of the slurries showed that the G′ values for all slurries remained essentially constant throughout the frequency range, indicating good crosslinking ( Dong et al, 2022 ). The addition of DMON@Cur carrier particles had little effect on the internal crosslinking mechanism of the slurries, which were stable and continuous.…”

“…The DMON synthesis was based on the previously published technique with certain modifications ( Dong et al, 2022 ). The following procedures were carried out in the dark to produce DMON@Cur powder.…”

Microfluidic one-step synthesis of a metal−organic framework for osteoarthritis therapeutic microRNAs delivery

“…The results show that compared with the traditional hydrothermal method, the use of microfluidic chips can quickly prepare miR-200c-3p@ZIF-8 with uniform particle size, small dispersion coefficient and high encapsulation rate, and is conducive to industrial expansion production. The miRNA release behaviors of miR-200c-3p@ZIF-8 in buffers with different pH values (pH = 7.4 mimicking normal physiological environment; pH = 6.4 mimicking inflammatory microenvironment; and pH = 5.5 mimicking endosome/lysosome environments) ( Luo et al, 2017 ; Cao et al, 2022 ; Dong et al, 2022 ) were subsequently evaluated by nanodrop spectrophotometer, while the standard curve of miR-200c-3p was presented in Fig. S10, ESI†.…”

Chitosan-Based Hemostatic Hydrogels: The Concept, Mechanism, Application, and Prospects

“… ( a ) Properties and applications of hemostatic hydrogels prepared from different polymers [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Copyright 2019, 2021 Elsevier.…”