A biodegradable PEG-based micro-cavitary hydrogel as scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering
writer：Changjiang Fan, Dong-An Wang
keywords：Poly(ethylene glycol), Hydrogel, Tissue engineering
source：期刊
Issue time：2015年
We developed a micro-cavitary hydrogel (MCG) via photo-polymerization of biodegradable
oligo(trimethylene carbonate)–poly(ethylene glycol)–oligo(trimethylene carbonate)
diacrylate (TPT-DA) macromer, in which cavities with hundreds of microns in diameter
were created using gelatin micro-spherical porogens. The capacity of this TPT-DA based
MCG (TPT-MCG) as scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering was deployed and measured
by comparing it with conventional, non-cavitary TPT-DA based hydrogels (TPT-G).
Besides the influence on physical properties (e.g. swelling behavior, crosslink density,
etc.), the micro-cavitary structure properly accelerated degradation of TPT-MCG constructs, which benefited cell proliferation and production of cartilage-specific extracellular matrix (ECM). After 21 days of culture, the cell density in TPT-MCG constructs was 5.6-folds higher than that in TPT-G constructs. The total contents of collagen and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) in TPT-MCG constructs was up to 833 mg per gram dry weight in contrast with 273 mg per gram dry weight in TPT-G counterparts. Furthermore, the ECM networks were clearly observed in TPT-MCG constructs. These results indicate the superiority of TPT-MCG as scaffold for cartilage regeneration.