Applicability and biodegradability in vivo upon polyglycolic acid nonwoven mesh and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) porous sponge as scaffolds for tissue engineered cartilage

Sun An-ke; Sun Jing; Sun Wei; Zhang He; Chen Wei; Hua Ze-quan

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.2014.08.005

Abstract：BACKGROUND:Both polyglycolic acid (PGA) nonwoven mesh and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHH) show good applicability, biodegradability and biocompatibility with porous sponges. <br> OBJECTIVE:To explore the applicability and biodegradabilityin vivo of PGA nonwoven mesh and PHBHH porous sponge as scaffolds for tissue engineered cartilage. <br> METHODS: Rabbit chondrocytes were seeded onto PGA nonwoven mesh and PHBHH porous sponge respectively as scaffolds to form chondrocyte-PGA or chondrocyte-PHBHH composites by tissue engineering technique. The composites were implanted subcutaneously into the dorsum of the adult New Zealand white rabbits as experimental group. In addition, PGA nonwoven mesh and PHBHH porous sponge respectively were implanted subcutaneously into the dorsum of another rabbits as control group. <br> RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Histological examination showed that for the tissue engineered cartilage using PGA nonwoven mesh as scaffolds a few smaler chondrocytes and some remainder of PGA fibers existed among the matrix of neocartilage after 4 weeks; near mature cartilage appeared without PGA fiber remainder after 8 weeks; then mature cartilage formed with a plenty of cartilage matrix and without PGA fiber remainder after 12 weeks. For the tissue engineered cartilage using PHBHH porous sponge as scaffolds, immature chondrocytes presented with more remainder of PHBHH similar to “foreign substance” in neocartilage after 4 weeks; and some remainder of PHBHH stil remained after 8 weeks; up until 12 weeks, the remainder of PHBHH was invisible within the new cartilage. It was demonstrated to form rich cartilaginous matrix and type II colage through special staining and immunohistochemical test at 12 weeks after implantation. Both PGA nonwoven mesh and PHBHH porous sponge have good applicability and biodegradability as scaffolds for tissue engineered cartilagein vivo, and their biodegradability meets the requirement of constructing tissue engineered cartilage.