ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:Tissue-engineered transplantation technique has become an ideal therapeutic regimen for degenerative disc diseases through reconstituting the biological functions of the degenerated intervertebral discs. OBJECTIVE:To construct a novel tissue-engineered annular fibrosus scaffold. METHODS:Konjac glucomannan, nano-hydroxyapatite and colagen were used to fabricate a new tissue-engineered annular fibrosus scaffold by wet spinning, chemical crosslinking, and freeze drying methods. Afterwards, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectrometer were used to analyze the scaffold qualitative components, physico-chemical property, biomechanical performance and cytocompatibility. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The bionic scaffold had a three-dimensional porous structure, with the average pore size of (425.8±47.3) μm, the average porosity of (73.4±5.6)%, and the water absorption of (718.6±24.3)%. In addition, the compressive strength of the scaffold was similar with that of the natural annular fibrosus. More importantly, the scaffold had good biocompatibility without cytotoxicity. These results show that the tissue-engineered annular fibrosus scaffold constructed by konjac glucomannan, nano-hydroxyapatite and colagen has proper three-dimensional porous structure, biocompatibility, porosity, water absorption and biomechanical strength.