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Shaped, Stratified, Scaffold-free Grafts for Articular Cartilage Defects

  • Symposium: New Approaches to Allograft Transplantation
  • Published:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research

Abstract

One goal of treatment for large articular cartilage defects is to restore the anatomic contour of the joint with tissue having a structure similar to native cartilage. Shaped and stratified cartilaginous tissue may be fabricated into a suitable graft to achieve such restoration. We asked if scaffold-free cartilaginous constructs, anatomically shaped and targeting spherically-shaped hips, can be created using a molding technique and if biomimetic stratification of the shaped constructs can be achieved with appropriate superficial and middle/deep zone chondrocyte subpopulations. The shaped, scaffold-free constructs were formed from the alginate-released bovine calf chondrocytes with shaping on one (saucer), two (cup), or neither (disk) surfaces. The saucer and cup constructs had shapes distinguishable quantitatively (radius of curvature of 5.5 ± 0.1 mm for saucer and 2.8 ± 0.1 mm for cup) and had no adverse effects on the glycosaminoglycan and collagen contents and their distribution in the constructs as assessed by biochemical assays and histology, respectively. Biomimetic stratification of chondrocyte subpopulations in saucer- and cup-shaped constructs was confirmed and quantified using fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. This shaping method, combined with biomimetic stratification, has the potential to create anatomically contoured large cartilaginous constructs.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, University of California-San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0412, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0412, USA

    EunHee Han MS, Van W. Wong BS, Barbara L. Schumacher BS & Robert L. Sah MD, ScD

  2. Department of Radiology, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Won C. Bae PhD

  3. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Nancy D. Hsieh-Bonassera MS

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Simon Görtz MD & William D. Bugbee MD

  5. Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Biochemistry, Rush Medical College at Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA

    Koichi Masuda MD

  6. Whitaker Institute of Biomedical Engineering, University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Robert L. Sah MD, ScD

Authors
  1. EunHee Han MS
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  2. Won C. Bae PhD
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  3. Nancy D. Hsieh-Bonassera MS
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  4. Van W. Wong BS
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  7. Koichi Masuda MD
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  8. William D. Bugbee MD
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  9. Robert L. Sah MD, ScD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert L. Sah MD, ScD.

Additional information

One or more authors have received funding from the National Football League Charities, Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, NIH, and NSF (RLS) and from an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (EHH).

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Han, E., Bae, W.C., Hsieh-Bonassera, N.D. et al. Shaped, Stratified, Scaffold-free Grafts for Articular Cartilage Defects. Clin Orthop Relat Res 466, 1912–1920 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0291-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-008-0291-7

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