• Armiento, Angela R.
• Wöltje, Michael
• Smeets, Ralf
• Bayer, Andreas
• Nußpickel, Bastian
• Lucius, Ralph
• Schmidt, Felix N.
• Kurz, Bodo
• Cherif, Chokri
• Weitkamp, Jan-Tobias
• Behrendt, Peter
• Arnold, Philipp
• Aibibu, Dilbar
• Eglin, David

Abstract

<p>A continuing challenge in cartilage tissue engineering for cartilage regeneration is the creation of a suitable synthetic microenvironment for chondrocytes and tissue regeneration. The aim of this study was to develop a highly tunable hybrid scaffold based on a silk fibroin matrix (SM) and a hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel. Human articular chondrocytes were embedded in a porous 3-dimensional SM, before infiltration with tyramine modified HA hydrogel. Scaffolds were cultured in chondropermissive medium with and without TGF-β1. Cell viability and cell distribution were assessed using CellTiter-Blue assay and Live/Dead staining. Chondrogenic marker expression was detected using qPCR. Biosynthesis of matrix compounds was analyzed by dimethylmethylene blue assay and immuno-histology. Differences in biomaterial stiffness and stress relaxation were characterized using a one-step unconfined compression test. Cell morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy. Hybrid scaffold revealed superior chondro-inductive and biomechanical properties compared to sole SM. The presence of HA and TGF-β1 increased chondrogenic marker gene expression and matrix deposition. Hybrid scaffolds offer cytocompatible and highly tunable properties as cell-carrier systems, as well as favorable biomechanical properties.</p>

Topics

• Deposition
• porous
• impedance spectroscopy
• compound
• scanning electron microscopy
• compression test