Abstract
Biodegradable scaffolds are widely used to transplant stem cells into various tissues. Recent studies showed that living stem cells can be attached to the surface of absorbable sutures in vitro. Soaking the absorbable material polyglactin in a cell culture medium and thereby creating a stem cell biofilm on its surface may initiate the absorption process even before implantation; therefore, the physicochemical properties of the suture may be compromised in vivo. We found that pre-incubation of sutures in cell culture media in vitro results in tensile strength reduction and faster suture absorption in a rat model of muscle injury. Shorter incubation times of up to 48 h do not influence absorption or tensility; therefore, it is advisable to limit incubation times to two days for polyglactin-based cell delivery protocols.
Highlights
Suture selection in clinical practice is determined by the host tissue and other features, such as the tensile strength, absorption, handling and biocompatibility of the suture
The albumin coating caused no significant difference in the in vivo absorption at any time point compared with the control sutures
Because absorbable sutures are partly degraded by cellular activity [1], it is important that their tensility is unaffected by attached bone marrow-derived stem cells and is comparable to that of uncoated sutures
Summary
Suture selection in clinical practice is determined by the host tissue and other features, such as the tensile strength, absorption, handling and biocompatibility of the suture. Freudenberg has shown that incubating various absorbable closing materials in different body fluids and pH buffers in vitro significantly decreases the tensile strength of sutures [1]. These differences have been supported by in vivo experiments: Karabulut tested the tensile strength and absorption of seven suture materials in rats and suggested that suture and host tissue characteristics should be strongly considered before the suture application [2]. Even though suture-based cell delivery seems to be a viable way to transplant stem cells into soft tissues, there is no scientific data investigating the biomechanical features of the sutures after the cell-coating preparation steps. Diminished tensile properties even with the presence of exogenous stem cells could result in insufficient healing in tissues like tendon, where good initial strength is needed for tissue apposition
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