PCL Scaffold for Osteochondral Defect Treatment

Abstract

Osteochondral defects develop as a result of trauma, microtrauma, avascular necrosis or cancer. These are usually pre-arthrotic conditions, accompanied by chronic pain and limited joint mobility leading to decreased quality of life of the affected patients. The bone itself has self-repair potential facilitated by mesenchymal stem cells and other cells present in the bone tissue. On the other hand, mature cartilage has very low regenerative capacity due to limited mitotic potential of chondrocytes and lack of vascularization. Therefore, there is an effort to develop an alternative treatment strategy supporting and accelerating natural healing processes. We have designed nanofibrous scaffolds made of poly‑ε‑caprolactone/hyaluronic acid and enriched with specific growth factors – “osteogenic” part with BMP‑2 and “chondrogenic” part with bFGF and TGF‑β. These two parts are meant to be combined in one biphasic non‑cellular scaffold which would be possible to implant in the site of injury and serve as a mechanical support for the cells. We examined proliferation and viability of cells, depth of their penetration into scaffold, cell distribution, alkaline phosphatase activity and extracellular matrix proteins expression. We showed both “osteogenic” and “chondrogenic” scaffold was suitable for cell growth. Moreover, in comparison to the control samples, these two scaffolds exhibited positive effect on chondrogenic and osteogenic differentiation, respectively.