Construction of Biocompatible Hydrogel Scaffolds With a Long-Term Drug Release for Facilitating Cartilage Repair

• Main Authors: Wei Zhang (Author), Rui Chen (Author), Xiong Xu (Author), Liang Zhu (Author), Yanbin Liu (Author), XiaoJie Yu (Author), GuoKe Tang (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A., 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 1663-9812; 10.3389/fphar.2022.922032
• Keywords: BMSCs; cartilage regeneration; hydrogel scaffold; KGN; long-term release; Therapeutics. Pharmacology; RM1-950
• Source: Frontiers in Pharmacology, Vol 13 (2022)

In tissue engineering, hydrogel scaffolds allow various cells to be cultured and grown in vitro and then implanted to repair or replace the damaged areas. Here in this work, kartogenin (KGN), an effectively chondro-inductive non-protein bioactive drug molecule, was incorporated into a composite hydrogel comprising the positively charged chitosan (CS) and methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) polymers to fabricate appropriate microenvironments of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) for cartilage regeneration. Based on the combination of physical chain entanglements and chemical crosslinking effects, the resultant GelMA-CS@KGN composite hydrogels possessed favorable network pores and mechanical strength. In vitro cytotoxicity showed the excellent biocompatibility for facilitating the cell growth, adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation. The long-term sustainable KGN release from the hydrogel scaffolds in situ promoted the chondrogenic differentiation that can be employed as an alternative candidate for cartilage tissue regeneration.