Abstract
Articular cartilage (AC) damage is quite common, but due to AC’s poor self-healing ability, the damage can easily develop into osteoarthritis (OA). To solve this problem, we developed a microsphere/hydrogel system that provides two growth factors that promote cartilage repair: transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) to enhance cartilage tissue formation and ghrelin synergy TGF-β to significantly enhance the chondrogenic differentiation. The hydrogel and microspheres were characterized in vitro, and the biocompatibility of the system was verified. Double emulsion solvent extraction technology (w/o/w) is used to encapsulate TGF-β3 and ghrelin into microspheres, and these microspheres are encapsulated in a hydrogel to continuously release TGF-β3 and ghrelin. According to the chondrogenic differentiation ability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in vitro, the concentrations of the two growth factors were optimized to promote cartilage regeneration.
Highlights
Articular cartilage (AC) injury is very common, and the incidence of AC injury was found to be 57% in 1000 patients undergoing knee arthroscopy [1]
We studied the effects of the combination of 10 ng/mL transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) and different concentrations of ghrelin (1, 10 and 100 nM) on the chondrogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)
Regarding the gene expression related to the chondrogenic differentiation of MSCs, our results proved that the combination of 10 ng/mL TGF-β3 and
Summary
Articular cartilage (AC) injury is very common, and the incidence of AC injury was found to be 57% in 1000 patients undergoing knee arthroscopy [1]. As a tissue without blood supply, nerve tissue or lymph nodes, ACs lack a self-healing ability [2]. Once an AC is injured, without proper and timely intervention, AC damage may develop into osteoarthritis (OA). The treatment of cartilage injury has been extensively studied since the last century [3], such as bone marrow-stimulating techniques, osteochondral transplantation, autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) and stem cells transplantation, these methods have disadvantages such as a lack of biomechanical and viscoelastic characteristics of the cartilage produced, limited donor sources, complicated surgery, long recovery time and potential tissue malformations in vivo [4]. There is an urgent need to develop new treatments for AC injury
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