Multilayered polycaprolactone/gelatin fiber-hydrogel composite for tendon tissue engineering

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Tissue Engineering

Background:

• Tendon and ligament (T&L) injuries present significant clinical challenges due to limited intrinsic healing.
• Tissue engineering offers a promising avenue for T&L repair by creating biomimetic scaffolds.
• Current T&L tissue engineering requires advanced scaffolds mimicking native tissue properties.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and characterize a novel composite scaffold for T&L tissue engineering.
• To create a three-dimensional (3D) biomimetic scaffold with physical and biochemical features of native T&L tissue.
• To evaluate the scaffold's potential for facilitating T&L healing and regeneration.

Main Methods:

• Co-electrospinning of poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) and methacrylated gelatin (mGLT) to fabricate composite scaffolds.
• Photocrosslinking to stabilize the scaffold, ensure uniform methacrylated gelatin distribution, and preserve mechanical strength.
• Fabrication of multilayered constructs by integrating stacked scaffold sheets for mimicking native T&L structure.

Main Results:

• Photocrosslinking successfully retained methacrylated gelatin and ensured its uniform distribution within the scaffold.
• The composite scaffold exhibited preserved mechanical strength after photocrosslinking.
• Photocrosslinking enabled the integration of scaffold sheets into multilayered constructs mimicking native T&L architecture.
• Cells within the constructs responded to topographical cues and tenogenic factors (e.g., TGF-β3).
• The scaffold demonstrated excellent biocompatibility and a highly integrated structure.

Conclusions:

• A novel composite scaffold comprising aligned PCL microfibers and mGLT was developed for tendon tissue engineering.
• Simultaneous cell seeding and photocrosslinking allowed for the creation of cell-impregnated multilayered constructs.
• The engineered scaffold combines the benefits of PCL nanofibrous scaffolds and photocrosslinked gelatin hydrogels.
• This construct effectively mimics the structure, mechanical anisotropy, and cell phenotype of native tendon tissue.
• The developed scaffold serves as a versatile building block for fabricating tissue grafts with both fibrous and hydrogel components, applicable beyond tendon tissue engineering.