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Ding SL, Liu X, Zhao XY, Wang KT, Xiong W, Gao ZL, Sun CY, Jia MX, Li C, Gu Q, Zhang MZ. Microcarriers in application for cartilage tissue engineering: Recent progress and challenges. Bioact Mater 2022; 17:81-108. [PMID: 35386447 PMCID: PMC8958326 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioactmat.2022.01.033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2021] [Revised: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Successful regeneration of cartilage tissue at a clinical scale has been a tremendous challenge in the past decades. Microcarriers (MCs), usually used for cell and drug delivery, have been studied broadly across a wide range of medical fields, especially the cartilage tissue engineering (TE). Notably, microcarrier systems provide an attractive method for regulating cell phenotype and microtissue maturations, they also serve as powerful injectable carriers and are combined with new technologies for cartilage regeneration. In this review, we introduced the typical methods to fabricate various types of microcarriers and discussed the appropriate materials for microcarriers. Furthermore, we highlighted recent progress of applications and general design principle for microcarriers. Finally, we summarized the current challenges and promising prospects of microcarrier-based systems for medical applications. Overall, this review provides comprehensive and systematic guidelines for the rational design and applications of microcarriers in cartilage TE. This review summarized fabrication techniques and cartilage repaired application of microcarriers. The appropriate materials and design principle for microcarriers in cartilage tissue engineering are discussed. Promising future perspectives and challenges in microcarriers fields are outlined.
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Kittel Y, Kuehne AJC, De Laporte L. Translating Therapeutic Microgels into Clinical Applications. Adv Healthc Mater 2022; 11:e2101989. [PMID: 34826201 DOI: 10.1002/adhm.202101989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Microgels are crosslinked, water-swollen networks with a 10 nm to 100 µm diameter and can be modified chemically or biologically to render them biocompatible for advanced clinical applications. Depending on their intended use, microgels require different mechanical and structural properties, which can be engineered on demand by altering the biochemical composition, crosslink density of the polymer network, and the fabrication method. Here, the fundamental aspects of microgel research and development, as well as their specific applications for theranostics and therapy in the clinic, are discussed. A detailed overview of microgel fabrication techniques with regards to their intended clinical application is presented, while focusing on how microgels can be employed as local drug delivery materials, scavengers, and contrast agents. Moreover, microgels can act as scaffolds for tissue engineering and regeneration application. Finally, an overview of microgels is given, which already made it into pre-clinical and clinical trials, while future challenges and chances are discussed. This review presents an instructive guideline for chemists, material scientists, and researchers in the biomedical field to introduce them to the fundamental physicochemical properties of microgels and guide them from fabrication methods via characterization techniques and functionalization of microgels toward specific applications in the clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yonca Kittel
- DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Forckenbeckstrasse 50 52074 Aachen Germany
| | - Alexander J. C. Kuehne
- DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Forckenbeckstrasse 50 52074 Aachen Germany
- Institute of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Ulm University Albert‐Einstein‐Allee 11 89081 Ulm Germany
- Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry (ITMC) Polymeric Biomaterials RWTH University Aachen Worringerweg 2 52074 Aachen Germany
| | - Laura De Laporte
- DWI – Leibniz Institute for Interactive Materials Forckenbeckstrasse 50 52074 Aachen Germany
- Max Planck School‐Matter to Life (MtL) Jahnstraße 29 69120 Heidelberg Germany
- Advanced Materials for Biomedicine (AMB) Institute of Applied Medical Engineering (AME) Center for Biohybrid Medical Systems (CBMS) University Hospital RWTH 52074 Aachen Germany
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Trengove A, Di Bella C, O'Connor AJ. The Challenge of Cartilage Integration: Understanding a Major Barrier to Chondral Repair. TISSUE ENGINEERING PART B-REVIEWS 2021; 28:114-128. [PMID: 33307976 DOI: 10.1089/ten.teb.2020.0244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Articular cartilage defects caused by injury frequently lead to osteoarthritis, a painful and costly disease. Despite widely used surgical methods to treat articular cartilage defects and a plethora of research into regenerative strategies as treatments, long-term clinical outcomes are not satisfactory. Failure to integrate repair tissue with native cartilage is a recurring issue in surgical and tissue-engineered strategies, seeing eventual degradation of the regenerated or surrounding tissue. This review delves into the current understanding of why continuous and robust integration with native cartilage is so difficult to achieve. Both the intrinsic limitations of chondrocytes to remodel injured cartilage, and the significant challenges posed by a compromised biomechanical environment are described. Recent scaffold and cell-based techniques to repair cartilage are also discussed, and limitations of existing methods to evaluate integrative repair. In particular, the importance of evaluating the mechanical integrity of the interface between native and repair tissue is highlighted as a meaningful assessment of any strategy to repair this load-bearing tissue. Impact statement The failure to integrate grafts or biomaterials with native cartilage is a major barrier to cartilage repair. An in-depth understanding of the reasons cartilage integration remains a challenge is required to inform cartilage repair strategies. In particular, this review highlights that integration of cartilage repair strategies is frequently assessed in terms of the continuity of tissue, but not the mechanical integrity. Given the load-bearing nature of cartilage, evaluating integration in terms of interfacial strength is essential to assessing the potential success of cartilage repair methods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Trengove
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Claudia Di Bella
- Department of Surgery, St. Vincent's Hospital, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.,Department of Orthopedics, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
| | - Andrea J O'Connor
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
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Li F, Levinson C, Truong VX, Laurent-Applegate LA, Maniura-Weber K, Thissen H, Forsythe JS, Zenobi-Wong M, Frith JE. Microencapsulation improves chondrogenesis in vitro and cartilaginous matrix stability in vivo compared to bulk encapsulation. Biomater Sci 2020; 8:1711-1725. [PMID: 31994552 DOI: 10.1039/c9bm01524h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
The encapsulation of cells into microgels is attractive for applications in tissue regeneration. While cells are protected against shear stress during injection, the assembly of microgels after injection into a tissue defect also forms a macroporous scaffold that allows effective nutrient transport throughout the construct. However, in most of current strategies that form microgel-based macroporous scaffold or higher-order structures, cells are seeded during or post the assembly process and not microencapsulated in situ. The objective of this study is to investigate the chondrogenic phenotype of microencapsulated fetal chondrocytes in a biocompatible, assembled microgel system vs. bulk gels and to test the stability of the constructs in vivo. Here, we demonstrate that cell microencapsulation leads to increased expression of cartilage-specific genes in a TGF-β1-dependent manner. This correlates, as shown by histological staining, with the ability of microencapsulated cells to deposit cartilaginous matrix after migrating to the surface of the microgels, while keeping a macroscopic granular morphology. Implantation of precultured scaffolds in a subcutaneous mouse model results in vessel infiltration in bulk gels but not in assembled microgels, suggesting a higher stability of the matrix produced by the cells in the assembled microgel constructs. The cells are able to remodel the microgels as demonstrated by the gradual disappearance of the granular structure in vivo. The biocompatible microencapsulation and microgel assembly system presented in this article therefore hold great promise as an injectable system for cartilage repair.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fanyi Li
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia. and CSIRO Manufacturing, Bayview Avenue, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
| | - Clara Levinson
- Tissue Engineering + Biofabrication, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Vinh X Truong
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
| | | | - Katharina Maniura-Weber
- Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Laboratory for Biointerfaces, St. Gallen, Switzerland
| | - Helmut Thissen
- CSIRO Manufacturing, Bayview Avenue, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
| | - John S Forsythe
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
| | - Marcy Zenobi-Wong
- Tissue Engineering + Biofabrication, Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
| | - Jessica E Frith
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.
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Wang X, Lu Y, Wang W, Wang Q, Liang J, Fan Y, Zhang X. Effect of different aged cartilage ECM on chondrogenesis of BMSCs in vitro and in vivo. Regen Biomater 2020; 7:583-595. [PMID: 33365144 PMCID: PMC7748452 DOI: 10.1093/rb/rbaa028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 05/23/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Extracellular matrix (ECM)-based biomaterials are promising candidates in cartilage tissue engineering by simulating the native microenvironment to regulate the chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) without exogenous growth factors. The biological properties of ECM scaffolds are primarily depended on the original source, which would directly influence the chondrogenic effects of the ECM materials. Despite the expanding investigations on ECM scaffolds in recent years, the selection of optimized ECM materials in cartilage regeneration was less reported. In this study, we harvested and compared the articular cartilage ECM from newborn, juvenile and adult rabbits. The results demonstrated the significant differences in the mechanical strength, sulphated glycosaminoglycan and collagen contents of the different aged ECM, before and after decellularization. Consequently, different compositional and mechanical properties were shown in the three ECM-based collagen hydrogels, which exerted age-dependent chondrogenic inducibility. In general, both in vitro and in vivo results suggested that the newborn ECM promoted the most chondrogenesis of BMSCs but led to severe matrix calcification. In contrast, BMSCs synthesized the lowest amount of cartilaginous matrix with minimal calcification with adult ECM. The juvenile ECM achieved the best overall results in promoting chondrogenesis of BMSCs and preventing matrix calcification. Together, this study provides important information to our current knowledge in the design of future ECM-based biomaterials towards a successful repair of articular cartilage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuyu Wang
- Guangxi Engineering Center in Biomedical Materials for Tissue and Organ Regeneration, Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomedicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.,National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Yan Lu
- National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Wan Wang
- Guangxi Engineering Center in Biomedical Materials for Tissue and Organ Regeneration, Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomedicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.,National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Qiguang Wang
- National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Jie Liang
- National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Yujiang Fan
- Guangxi Engineering Center in Biomedical Materials for Tissue and Organ Regeneration, Guangxi Collaborative Innovation Center for Biomedicine, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning 530021, China.,National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
| | - Xingdong Zhang
- National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Wangjiang Road 29, Chengdu 610064, China
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Yang J, Xiao Y, Tang Z, Luo Z, Li D, Wang Q, Zhang X. The negatively charged microenvironment of collagen hydrogels regulates the chondrogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in vitro and in vivo. J Mater Chem B 2020; 8:4680-4693. [PMID: 32391834 DOI: 10.1039/d0tb00172d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/22/2023]
Abstract
The differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) into functional chondrocytes is crucial for successful cartilage tissue engineering. Since the extracellular matrix (ECM) microenvironment can regulate the behaviours of BMSCs and guide their differentiation, it is important to simulate the natural cartilage ECM to induce the chondrogenesis of BMSCs. As the most abundant protein in the ECM, collagen hydrogels were found to provide a structural and chemical microenvironment for natural cartilage, and regulate the chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. However, as the negatively charged ECM microenvironment is crucial for chondrogenesis and homeostasis within cells in cartilage tissue, the electrical properties of collagen hydrogels need to be further optimized. In this study, three collagen hydrogels with different electrical properties were fabricated using methacrylic anhydride (MA) and succinic anhydride (SA) modification. The collagen hydrogels had a similar composition, storage modulus and integral triple helix structure of collagen, but their different negatively charged microenvironments significantly impacted the hydrophilicity, protein diffusion and binding, and consequently influenced BMSC adhesion and spreading on the surface of the hydrogels. Moreover, the BMSCs encapsulated in the collagen hydrogels also demonstrated improved sGAG secretion and chondrogenic and integrin gene expression with the increased negative charge in vitro. Similar results were also observed in subcutaneous implantation in vivo, where higher secretions of sGAG, SOX9 and collagen type II proteins were found in the collagen hydrogels with higher negative charge. Together, our results demonstrated that more negative charges introduced into the collagen hydrogel microenvironment would enhance the chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs in vitro and in vivo. This revealed that the electrical properties are an important consideration in designing future collagen hydrogels for cartilage regeneration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jirong Yang
- National Engineering Research Center for Biomaterials, Sichuan University, Chengdu 61004, Sichuan, China.
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Liu J, Wang X, Lu G, Tang JZ, Wang Y, Zhang B, Sun Y, Lin H, Wang Q, Liang J, Fan Y, Zhang X. Bionic cartilage acellular matrix microspheres as a scaffold for engineering cartilage. J Mater Chem B 2019; 7:640-650. [DOI: 10.1039/c8tb02999g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/04/2023]
Abstract
Bionic cartilage acellular matrix microspheres (BCAMMs) made from decelluarized bionic cartilage microspheres (BCMs).
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