Issue 45, 2021

A smart injectable composite hydrogel with magnetic navigation and controlled glutathione release for promoting in situ chondrocyte array and self-healing in damaged cartilage tissue

Abstract

Injectable cell-based hydrogels allow surgical operation in a minimally invasive way for articular cartilage lesions but the chondrocytes in the injectable hydrogels are difficultly arrayed and fixed at the site of interest to repair the cartilage tissue. In this study, an injectable hyaluronic acid–polyacrylic acid (HA–pAA) hydrogel was first synthesized using hyaluronic acid–cyclodextrin (HA–CD) and polyacrylic acid–ferrocene (pAA–Fc) to provide cell-delivery and self-healing. To promote the cell fixation and alignment, porous poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) magnetic microcapsules (PPMMs) with glutathione (GSH) loaded and iron oxide nanoparticles (IO) located in the shell were designed. The GSH-loaded PPMMs with layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of hyaluronic acid (HA) and GSH (LbL-PPMMs) can provide a two-stage rapid and slow release of GSH to modulate the self-healing of the HA–pAA hydrogel at the injured site. Furthermore, the chondrocytes embedded in the HA–pAA hydrogel could be delivered through CD44 receptors on the HA polymer chains of LbL-PPMMs toward the surface of the damaged site by an internal magnetic force. The composite hydrogel system of chondrocytes/LbL-PPMMs/HA–pAA can provide the damaged cartilage with a more even and smooth surface than other groups in a rabbit model after 8 weeks of implantation. In addition, the chondrocytes in the deep zone tissue exhibit a columnar array, similar to the cell arrangement in normal cartilage tissue. Together with the cell navigation behavior and GSH release from the LbL-PPMM/HA–pAA hydrogel, a full closure of lesions on the cartilage tissue can be achieved. Our results demonstrate the highly promising potential of the injectable LbL-PPMM/HA–pAA system in cartilage tissue repair.

Graphical abstract: A smart injectable composite hydrogel with magnetic navigation and controlled glutathione release for promoting in situ chondrocyte array and self-healing in damaged cartilage tissue

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Sep 2021
Accepted
16 Okt 2021
First published
18 Okt 2021

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021,9, 9370-9382

A smart injectable composite hydrogel with magnetic navigation and controlled glutathione release for promoting in situ chondrocyte array and self-healing in damaged cartilage tissue

M. Chiang, I. Cheng, S. Chou, J. Tsai, Y. Chen, H. Lu, S. Yang, S. Chang and S. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2021, 9, 9370 DOI: 10.1039/D1TB02030G

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements