Tissue-engineered cartilage construction using microfibrillar collagen / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:To seek for ideal scaffold materials is still an important task for cartilage tissue engineering.OBJECTIVE:To investigate the application of the AviteneTM microfibrillar collagen hemostat sponge in cartilage tissue engineering.METHODS:Rabbit auricular cartilage was harvested via surgical operation,and primary chondrocytes were isolated and amplified.Microfibrillar collagen hemostat sponge was cut into small bricks.The passage 2 chondrocytes were suspended and seeded onto the spongy bricks.After 1 week of in vitro culture,the constructs were then implanted into nude mice.After 8 weeks,the specimens were collected and evaluated using gross,histological and immunohistochamical observation.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:During the cell seeding,the scaffold maintained its dimensions.No shrinkage was observed when the cell suspension was added.There was no considerable change in dimensions during the 1-week in vitro culture and at 8 weeks after implantation in nude mice.At 8 weeks post-implantation,mature cartilage blocks were harvested,which were white,translucent,and flexible.Histologically,the constructs appeared to have typical mature cartilaginous tissues,with robust extracellular matrix secretion,in which the microfibrillar collagen was incompletely degraded.We conclude that the microfibrillar collagen is a favorable scaffold material for cartilage tissue engineering.