Cartilage Tissue Engineering-A Novel Biomaterial for Cartilage Repair Generated by Self- Assembly: Creation of a Self-Organized Articular Cartilage-like Tissue
Kazuo Yudoh1*, Noritaka Kumai2, Naoko Yui2 and Rie Karasawa 1
1Department of Frontier Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Japan
2Department of Sports Medicine, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Japan
Submission: April 25, 2017; Published: June 02, 2017
*Corresponding author: Kazuo Yudoh, Department of Frontier medicine, Institute of Medical Science, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Sugoh 2-16-1, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki City 216-8511, Japan,Tel:+81-44-977-8111(ext.4029);Fax:+81-44-978-2036; Email:yudo@marianna-u.ac.jp; 1000229@uba.cat
How to cite this article:Kazuo Y, Noritaka K, Naoko Y, Rie K. Cartilage Tissue Engineering-A Novel Biomaterial for Cartilage Repair Generated by Self-Assembly: Creation of a Self-Organized Articular Cartilage-like Tissue. Nov Tech Arthritis Bone Res. 2017; 1(2) : 555557.
Summary
For successful articular cartilage tissue engineering, three-dimensional biomaterials created in vitro by cultivation of autologous chondrocytes or mesenchymal stem cells with a collagen gel have been implanted to replace defective or degenerative parts of the articular cartilage in limited cases with joint trauma or arthritis. However, several passages of chondrocyte culture are required to obtain a sufficient number of cells for tissue engineering. Several other problems arise including dedifferentiation of chondrocytes during cell culture.
The purpose of our study is to create a novel biomaterial possessing functions and structures comparable to native hyaline articular cartilage by utilizing the physicochemical properties of the cartilage matrix components themselves, in other words, employing a self-assembly technique instead of using chondrocytes, to produce cartilage matrices eventually leading to articular cartilage tissue formation. We demonstrate that self-assembly of cartilage components including type II collagen, proteoglycan and hyaluronic acid could construct self-organized cartilage-like material, which is characterized by nano-composite structure comparable to articular cartilage and by elasticity and low friction coefficient as small as those of native cartilage.
Introduction
For the treatment of advanced joint destruction and degeneration, reconstruction of joints using new technologies such as tissue engineering are now attracting attention. Biomimetic hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone tissue engineering have already been so well devised that they have sufficiently high affinity to the bone and enough rigidity similar to bone to be usable for the treatment of bone defects [1]. Since bone itself has superb ability of remodeling, grafted bone is replaced by the host bone tissue through self-organization over a period of several weeks to months. In contrast, materials suitable for cartilage repair still remain to be created which have perfectly cartilage-specific tissue qualities represented by properties of high elasticity and high lubrication [2,3].
Problems of Cartilage Tissue Engineering-Limitation of Cell Source
For the cartilage tissue engineering, chondrocytes are cultured in vitro in collagen or agarose gel to fabricate a three-dimensional material that can be implanted in a limited number of cases where subjects have a small posttraumatic cartilage defect of less than 3cm3 in volume [3]. Some researchers are trying to obtain cell resources for cartilage tissue engineering by induction of differentiated chondrocytes from mesenchymal stem cells derived from the bone marrow. However, using current techniques, 2~5x106 mature chondrocytes are supposed to be required to fill a 1cm3 cartilage deficit with cartilage-like tissue [2,4]. This requires continuous cell culture over several passages to obtain enough cell resources (number of cartilage cells).
Many problems therefore remain to be solved from the viewpoint of cellular resources, since cultured cells may lose properties specific to the chondrocyte and may dedifferentiate during passages in culture. Moreover, it takes several months for the tissue engineered cartilage like tissue to survive and become organized even when grafted in the defect site, since articular cartilage has less capacity for repair.
Our Novel Biomaterial for Cartilage Repair Generated by Self-Assembly-Creation of a Self-Organized Articular Cartilage-like Tissue
For the purpose of creating the articular cartilage-like tissue applicable to clinical use and overcoming the problem about “cell resource” in cartilage repair, we have been focusing on a novel biomaterial formed by self-assembly [5]. Recently, new materials and devices have been developed through self-assembling various molecules at the nanometer scale by manipulating the intermolecular relations [6].
Theory of self assembly
Molecules move randomly (Brownian motion) according to thermal motion and they may form a self-organized structure based on certain rules depending on the conditions of physicochemical properties such as inter-molecular avidity, surface modification, directions of covalent bonds, and ion arrangements.
Self assembled biomaterial for cartilage tissue engineering
Conclusion
Our self-organized cartilage-like tissue has a nanocomposite structure and is composed of components equivalent to native articular cartilage. It can, moreover, be manufactured in a short time of only a few hours. Our final goal is to develop a biomaterial most suitable for cartilage production. We emphasize the originality of this study, in which we do not need cellular resources like chondrocytes but only cartilage matrix components in order to produce cartilage-like tissue by the selforganization process.
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