Electrospun gelatin/polycaprolactone nanofibrous membranes combined with a coculture of bone marrow stromal cells and chondrocytes for cartilage engineering

Abstract

Electrospinning has recently received considerable attention, showing notable potential as a novel method of scaffold fabrication for cartilage engineering. The aim of this study was to use a coculture strategy of chondrocytes combined with electrospun gelatin/polycaprolactone (GT/PCL) membranes, instead of pure chondrocytes, to evaluate the formation of cartilaginous tissue. We prepared the GT/PCL membranes, seeded bone marrow stromal cell (BMSC)/chondrocyte cocultures (75% BMSCs and 25% chondrocytes) in a sandwich model in vitro, and then implanted the constructs subcutaneously into nude mice for 12 weeks. Gross observation, histological and immunohistological evaluation, glycosaminoglycan analyses, Young’s modulus measurement, and immunofluorescence staining were performed postimplantation. We found that the coculture group formed mature cartilage-like tissue, with no statistically significant difference from the chondrocyte group, and labeled BMSCs could differentiate into chondrocyte-like cells under the chondrogenic niche of chondrocytes. This entire strategy indicates that GT/PCL membranes are also a suitable scaffold for stem cell-based cartilage engineering and may provide a potentially clinically feasible approach for cartilage repairs.

Keywords:

• electrospinning
• nanocomposite
• cartilage tissue engineering
• nanomaterials
• stem cells

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Fund of China (31370982, 31200735, 81271726, 81370117), Key Projects of Shanghai Education Committee (14ZZ113), Shanghai Natural Science Fund for Youth Scholars (12ZR1446500), Science and Technology Development Fund of Shanghai Pudong (PKJ2012-Y48), Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning (20144Y0166), the Biomedical Engineering fund of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (YG2012MS36, YG2012MS35), the College Young Teachers’ Training and Funding Project of Shanghai (ZZjdyx12117, ZZjdyx12124), and the College Young Teachers’ Training and Funding Project of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.

Disclosure

No competing financial interests exist. The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.