Dielectrophoretic Micro-Organization of Chondrocytes to Regenerate Mechanically Anisotropic Cartilaginous Tissue.

Yoshitaka Takeuchi,Shogo Miyata

doi:10.3390/mi12091098

Abstract

Recently, many studies have focused on the repair and regeneration of damaged articular cartilage using tissue engineering. In tissue engineering therapy, cells are cultured in vitro to create a three-dimensional (3-D) tissue designed to replace the damaged cartilage. Although tissue engineering is a useful approach to regenerating cartilage, mechanical anisotropy has not been reconstructed from a cellular organization level. This study aims to create mechanically anisotropic cartilaginous tissue using dielectrophoretic cell patterning and gel-sheet lamination. Bovine chondrocytes were patterned in a hydrogel to form line-array cell clusters via negative dielectrophoresis (DEP). The results indicate that the embedded chondrocytes remained viable and reconstructed cartilaginous tissue along the patterned cell array. Moreover, the agarose gel, in which chondrocytes were patterned, demonstrated mechanical anisotropy. In summary, our DEP cell patterning and gel-sheet lamination techniques would be useful for reconstructing mechanically anisotropic cartilage tissues.

Highlights

Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Faculty of Science & Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan
We focused on the direct control of cellular organization in hydrogels to regenerate 3-D anisotropic cartilaginous tissue
Articular cartilage was harvested from articular joints of 3–6-week-old calves from a local abattoir, and chondrocytes were isolated from cartilage explants by enzymatic digestion [15]

Summary

Introduction

Graduate School of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Faculty of Science & Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 223-8522, Japan. Our DEP cell patterning and gel-sheet lamination techniques would be useful for reconstructing mechanically anisotropic cartilage tissues. This alignment is related to cell biosynthesis and tissue anisotropy These inhomogeneous and anisotropic structures of articular cartilage cannot be regenerated using a basic tissue engineering approach. To address this problem, some researchers have reported that culturing cells on scaffolds with anisotropic structures would induce anisotropic remodeling of cartilaginous tissue [11,12]. Some researchers have reported that culturing cells on scaffolds with anisotropic structures would induce anisotropic remodeling of cartilaginous tissue [11,12] Mechanical stimulation is another approach to regenerating anisotropic tissue. Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations

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