Cartilage Injury Repair by Human Umbilical Cord Wharton's Jelly/Hydrogel Combined with Chondrocyte.

Purpose: There is still a lack of effective treatments for cartilage damage. Cartilage tissue engineering could be a promising treatment method. Human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly (HUCWJ) and hydrogels have received wide attention as a scaffold for tissue engineering. They have not been widely used in clinical studies as their effectiveness and safety are still controversial. This study systematically compared the ability of these two biological tissue engineering materials to carry chondrocytes to repair cartilage injury in vivo. Methods: Chondrocytes were cocultured with HUCWJ or hydrogel for in vivo transplantation. The treatments comprised the HUCWJ+cell, hydrogel+cell, and blank groups. A rabbit model with articular cartilage defect in the knee joint area was established. The defective knee cartilage of different rabbit groups was treated for 3 and 6 months. The efficacy of the various treatments on articular cartilage injury was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and biochemical indices. Results: We found that the HUCWJ+cell and hydrogel+cell groups promoted cartilage repair compared with the blank group, which had no repair effect. The treatment efficacy of each group at 6 months was significantly better than that at 3 months. HUCWJ showed accelerated cartilage repair ability than the hydrogel. Conclusion: This study showed that HUCWJ is useful in cartilage tissue engineering to enhance the efficacy of chondrocyte-based cartilage repair, providing new insights for regenerative medicine. Impact statement Human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly (HUCWJ) and hydrogel are the suitable extracellular matrix for cartilage tissue engineering. This study assessed the capacity of HUCWJ- and hydrogel-loaded chondrocytes to repair cartilage injury in vivo. The data demonstrate that both HUCWJ and hydrogel effectively facilitated cartilage repair, and the repair effects of HUCWJ were significantly better compared with hydrogel, therefore providing a potential candidate for clinical practice of cartilage regeneration therapy.

[1]  K. Subramanian,et al.  Feasibility study on intact human umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly as a scaffold for human autologous chondrocyte: In-vitro study , 2022, The International journal of artificial organs.

[2]  Xiaolian Niu,et al.  Integrated gradient tissue-engineered osteochondral scaffolds: Challenges, current efforts and future perspectives , 2022, Bioactive materials.

[3]  Jiadao Wang,et al.  Progress and prospect of technical and regulatory challenges on tissue-engineered cartilage as therapeutic combination product , 2022, Bioactive materials.

[4]  Karan M. Shah,et al.  Strategies for Articular Cartilage Repair and Regeneration , 2021, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

[5]  Weifeng Lin,et al.  Intra-Articular Drug Delivery for Osteoarthritis Treatment , 2021, Pharmaceutics.

[6]  Ken P. Ehrhardt,et al.  Biologic Therapy in Chronic Pain Management: a Review of the Clinical Data and Future Investigations , 2021, Current Pain and Headache Reports.

[7]  Weifeng Lin,et al.  Recent Progress in Cartilage Lubrication , 2021, Advanced materials.

[8]  S. El-Amin,et al.  Umbilical cord-derived Wharton’s jelly for treatment of knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a non-randomized, open-label, multi-center trial , 2021, Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research.

[9]  Xiaofeng Zhu,et al.  In vitro and in vivo Study on an Injectable Glycol Chitosan/Dibenzaldehyde-Terminated Polyethylene Glycol Hydrogel in Repairing Articular Cartilage Defects , 2021, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

[10]  P. Zarrintaj,et al.  Agarose-Based Biomaterials: Opportunities and Challenges in Cartilage Tissue Engineering , 2020, Polymers.

[11]  S. El-Amin,et al.  Umbilical cord-derived Wharton’s jelly for regenerative medicine applications , 2020, Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research.

[12]  T. Kyriakides,et al.  Extracellular matrix-derived biomaterials in engineering cell function. , 2020, Biotechnology advances.

[13]  S. Rodeo,et al.  Growth Factor Delivery to a Bovine Defect Using Leukocyte -Rich Platelet-Rich Concentrates on a Hyaluronic Acid Scaffold. , 2019, Arthroscopy : the journal of arthroscopic & related surgery : official publication of the Arthroscopy Association of North America and the International Arthroscopy Association.

[14]  Xiaofeng Zhu,et al.  Extracellular matrix derived by human umbilical cord-deposited mesenchymal stem cells accelerates chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation potential in vitro , 2019, Cell and Tissue Banking.

[15]  Xuesi Chen,et al.  Thermosensitive Hydrogels as Scaffolds for Cartilage Tissue Engineering. , 2019, Biomacromolecules.

[16]  S. Ghanaati,et al.  Injectable-platelet rich fibrin using the low speed centrifugation concept improves cartilage regeneration when compared to platelet-rich plasma , 2019, Platelets.

[17]  M. Alini,et al.  Biomaterials for articular cartilage tissue engineering: Learning from biology. , 2018, Acta biomaterialia.

[18]  Daniel J. Kelly,et al.  3D Bioprinting for Cartilage and Osteochondral Tissue Engineering , 2017, Advanced healthcare materials.

[19]  Zhiguo Yuan,et al.  Fabrication and In Vitro Study of Tissue-Engineered Cartilage Scaffold Derived from Wharton's Jelly Extracellular Matrix , 2017, BioMed research international.

[20]  Ali Khademhosseini,et al.  Cell-laden hydrogels for osteochondral and cartilage tissue engineering. , 2017, Acta biomaterialia.

[21]  Yan Deng,et al.  Injectable hydrogels for cartilage and bone tissue engineering , 2017, Bone Research.

[22]  R. Müller,et al.  Tissue composition regulates distinct viscoelastic responses in auricular and articular cartilage. , 2016, Journal of biomechanics.

[23]  N J Kuiper,et al.  A detailed quantitative outcome measure of glycosaminoglycans in human articular cartilage for cell therapy and tissue engineering strategies. , 2015, Osteoarthritis and cartilage.

[24]  A. Fakhrjou,et al.  Leukocyte and Platelet Rich Plasma (L-PRP) Versus Leukocyte and Platelet Rich Fibrin (L-PRF) For Articular Cartilage Repair of the Knee: A Comparative Evaluation in an Animal Model , 2015, Iranian Red Crescent medical journal.

[25]  Jerry C. Hu,et al.  Repair and tissue engineering techniques for articular cartilage , 2015, Nature Reviews Rheumatology.

[26]  Yaling Zhang,et al.  Synthesis of multiresponsive and dynamic chitosan-based hydrogels for controlled release of bioactive molecules. , 2011, Biomacromolecules.

[27]  Michele M. Temple,et al.  Age- and site-associated biomechanical weakening of human articular cartilage of the femoral condyle. , 2007, Osteoarthritis and cartilage.

[28]  Fergal J O'Brien,et al.  Influence of freezing rate on pore structure in freeze-dried collagen-GAG scaffolds. , 2004, Biomaterials.

[29]  P. R. van Weeren,et al.  Influence of different exercise levels and age on the biochemical characteristics of immature equine articular cartilage. , 2010, Equine veterinary journal. Supplement.

[30]  M A Moses,et al.  Identification of an inhibitor of neovascularization from cartilage. , 1990, Science.