Comparison of Biocompatible Scaffold Beads for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

초록

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are new research areas investigating how to repair and regenerate organs and tissues using the natural signaling pathway and components of the organisms. A joint cartilage does not have blood vessels and a nerve, so that it is difficult to regenerate in vivo. Autologus Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI) is currently performed as a surgical treatment for arthritis. For the treatment of large damaged cartilage or initial symptom of osteoarthritis, however, transplant surgery should be carried out with scaffold beads for supporting the cells to be transplanted. In this study, possibility of the usage of a manufactured HA-atelo scaffold bead as a support material for cartilage cell therapy was investigated. For this purpose, we compared the manufactured HA-atelo scaffold beads with two other types of commercial scaffold beads such as Cellgen and Cytodex3. Within 24 hours after surgery, the tissues were isolated from the cartilage fragments. In addition, umbilical cord cells of fetuses with the HA-atelo scaffold beads were also prepared. HA-atelo scaffold beads were manufactured through a five-step process. Cell proliferation was determined by using MTT assay and secreted glycosaminoglycan (GAG) was analyzed quantitatively by using Blyscan GAG assay kit. In conclusion, it was found that the manufactured HA scaffold beads could be used in ACI.