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Mechanically Reinforced Extracellular Matrix Scaffold for Application of Cartilage Tissue Engineering

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Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine Aims and scope

Abstract

Scaffolds with cartilage-like environment and suitable physical properties are critical for tissue-engineered cartilage repair. In this study, decellularized porcine cartilage-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) was utilized to fabricate ECM scaffolds. Mechanically reinforced ECM scaffolds were developed by combining salt-leaching and crosslinking for cartilage repair. The developed scaffolds were investigated with respect to their physicochemical properties and their cartilage tissue formation ability. The mechanically reinforced ECM scaffold showed similar mechanical strength to that of synthetic PLGA scaffold and expressed higher levels of cartilage-specific markers compared to those expressed by the ECM scaffold prepared by simple freeze-drying. These results demonstrated that the physical properties of ECM-derived scaffolds could be influenced by fabrication method, which provides suitable environments for the growth of chondrocytes. By extension, this study suggests a promising approach of natural biomaterials in cartilage tissue engineering.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the National Research Foundation Grant (NRF-2017R1C1B2008327) and funded by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute in Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea (HI14C0744).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Science and Technology, Ajou University, 206, World Cup-ro, Yeongtonggu, Suwon, 16499, Korea

    Hyun Ju Oh & Byoung-Hyun Min

  2. Cell Therapy Center, Ajou University Medical Center, Ajou University, 206, World Cup-ro, Yeongtonggu, Suwon, 16499, Korea

    Soon Hee Kim & Byoung-Hyun Min

  3. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Ajou University, 206, World Cup-ro, Yeongtonggu, Suwon, 16499, Korea

    Jae-Ho Cho & Byoung-Hyun Min

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Pukyong National University, 45, Yongso-ro, Namgu, Busan, 48513, Korea

    Sang-Hyug Park

  5. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, School of Medicine, Ajou University, 206, World Cup-ro, Yeongtonggu, Suwon, 16499, Korea

    Byoung-Hyun Min

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  1. Hyun Ju Oh
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Correspondence to Sang-Hyug Park or Byoung-Hyun Min.

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Ethical statement

All experimental protocols were approved by the Institutional Review Board at Ajou University (Approval No. AJIRB-MED-SMP-10-266).

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Supplementary figure 1

Mechanical strengths comparison of native cartilage, PLGA-br, PCP-br and PCP-sp. (TIFF 59459 kb)

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Oh, H.J., Kim, S.H., Cho, JH. et al. Mechanically Reinforced Extracellular Matrix Scaffold for Application of Cartilage Tissue Engineering. Tissue Eng Regen Med 15, 287–299 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-018-0114-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13770-018-0114-1

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