Evaluation of oriented electrospun fibers for periosteal flap regeneration in biomimetic triphasic osteochondral implant

Abstract

Osteochondral defects represent a serious clinical problem. Although the cell-scaffold complexes have been reported to be effective for repairing osteochondral defects, a periosteal flap is frequently needed to arrest leakage of the implanted cells into the defect and to contribute to the secretion of cytokines to stimulate cartilage repair. The electrospun mesh mimicking the function of the flap assists tissue regeneration by preventing cell leakage and merits favorable outcomes in the cartilaginous region. In this study, an oriented poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) fibrous membrane (OEM) was fabricated by electrospinning as a periosteal scaffold and then freeze-dried with a collagen type I and hyaluronic acid cartilage scaffold (CH) and finally, freeze-dried with a tricalcium phosphate (TCP) bone substratum. Scanning electron microscopic images show obvious microstructure formation of the trilayered scaffolds, and electrospun fibrous membranes have an oriented fibrous network structure for the periosteal phase. Also shown are opened and interconnected pores with well designed three-dimensional structure, able to be bound in the CH (chondral phase) and TCP (osseous phase) scaffolds. In vitro results showed that the OEM can promote the orientation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSCs) and BMSCs can penetrate into the CH and TCP. After successfully combining the BMSCs, the tissue-engineered cartilage which contained the OEM and TCP complex was successfully used to regenerate the osteochondral defects in the rabbit model with greatly improved repair effects.