In Vitro Evaluation of a Composite Gelatin-Hyaluronic Acid-Alginate Porous Scaffold with Different Pore Distributions for Cartilage Regeneration

Ssu-Meng Haung; Yu-Ting Lin; Shih-Ming Liu; Jian-Chih Chen; Wen-Cheng Chen

doi:10.3390/gels7040165

In Vitro Evaluation of a Composite Gelatin-Hyaluronic Acid-Alginate Porous Scaffold with Different Pore Distributions for Cartilage Regeneration

Gels. 2021 Oct 9;7(4):165. doi: 10.3390/gels7040165.

Authors

Ssu-Meng Haung¹, Yu-Ting Lin¹, Shih-Ming Liu¹, Jian-Chih Chen^{1

2

3}, Wen-Cheng Chen^{1

4

5}

Affiliations

¹ Advanced Medical Devices and Composites Laboratory, Department of Fiber and Composite Materials, Feng Chia University, Taichung 407, Taiwan.
² Department of Orthopedics, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
³ Department of Orthopedics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Fragrance and Cosmetic Science, College of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.
⁵ Dental Medical Devices and Materials Research Center, College of Dental Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807, Taiwan.

Abstract

Although considerable achievements have been made in the field of regenerative medicine, since self-repair is not an advanced ability of articular cartilage, the regeneration of osteochondral defects is still a challenging problem in musculoskeletal diseases. Cartilage regeneration aims to design a scaffold with appropriate pore structure and biological and mechanical properties for the growth of chondrocytes. In this study, porous scaffolds made of gelatin, hyaluronic acid, alginate, and sucrose in different proportions of 2 g (S_L2) and 4 g (S_L4) were used as porogens in a leaching process. Sucrose with particle size ranges of 88-177 μm (Hμ) and 44-74 μm (SHμ) was added to the colloid, and the individually cross-linked hydrogel scaffolds with controllable pore size for chondrocyte culture were named Hμ-S_L2, Hμ-S_L4, SHμ-S_L2 and SHμ-S_L4. The perforation, porosity, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, and proliferation characteristics of the hydrogel scaffold and its influence on chondrocyte differentiation are discussed. Results show that the addition of porogen increases the porosity of the hydrogel scaffold. Conversely, when porogens with the same particle size are added, the pore size decreases as the amount of porogen increases. The perforation effect of the hydrogel scaffolds formed by the porogen is better at 88-177 μm compared with that at 44-74 μm. Cytotoxicity analysis showed that all the prepared hydrogel scaffolds were non-cytotoxic, indicating that no cross-linking agent residues that could cause cytotoxicity were found. In the proliferation and differentiation of the chondrocytes, the SHμ-S_L4 hydrogel scaffold with the highest porosity and strength did not achieve the best performance. However, due to the compromise between perforation pores, pore sizes, and strength, as well as considering cell proliferation and differentiation, Hμ-SL4 scaffold provided a more suitable environment for the chondrocytes than other groups; therefore, it can provide the best chondrocyte growth environment for this study. The development of hydrogels with customized pore properties for defective cartilage is expected to meet the requirements of the ultimate clinical application.

Keywords: biocompatibility; cartilage; hydrogel; in vitro; scaffold; tissue engineering.

Abstract

Grants and funding