Genipin is a fully assessed non-cytotoxic crosslinking compound. The chitosan|genipin physical properties such as morphology, roughness, porosity, hydrophilicity, ζ-potential, surface area and surface energy exert control over cell adhesion, migration, phenotype maintenance and intracellular signaling in vitro, and cell recruitment at the tissue-scaffold interface in vivo. For example a therapy using fucose|chitosan|genipin nanoparticles encapsulating amoxicillin, based on the recognition of fucose by H. pylori, leads to sharply improved clinical results. A bioactive scaffold sensitive to environmental stimuli provides an alternative approach for inducing adipose stem cell chondrogenesis: the expression of specific genes, the accumulation of cartilage-related macromolecules and the mechanical properties are comparable to the original cartilage-derived matrix (CDM), thus making the CDM|genipin a contraction-free biomaterial suitable for cartilage tissue engineering. For the regeneration of the cartilage, chitosan|genipin permits to modulate matrix synthesis and proliferation of chondrocytes by dynamic compression; chondrocytes cultured on the composite substrate produce much more collagen-II and sulfated GAG. The main advantages gained in the bone regeneration area with chitosan|genipin are: acceleration of mineral deposition; enhancement of adhesion, proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts; promotion of the expression of osteogenic differentiation markers; greatly improved viability of human adipose stem cells.
Keywords: Bone and cartilage regeneration; Chitosan; Genipin; Growth factors; Morphogenetic proteins; Stem cells.
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