An epigenetic bioactive composite scaffold with well-aligned nanofibers for functional tendon tissue engineering

Poor tendon repair is often a clinical challenge due to the lack of ideal biomaterials. Electrospun aligned fibers, resembling the ultrastructure of tendon, have been previously reported to promote tenogenesis. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear and the aligned fibers alone are not capable enough to commit teno-differentiation of stem cells. Here, based on our observation of reduced expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) cultured on aligned fibers, we proposed a strategy to enhance the tenogenesis effect of aligned fibers by using a small molecule Trichostatin A (TSA), an HDAC inhibitor. Such a TSA-laden poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) aligned fiber (A-TSA) scaffold was successfully fabricated by a stable jet electrospinning method, and demonstrated its sustained capability in releasing TSA. We found that TSA incorporated aligned fibers of PLLA had an additive effect in directing tenogenic differentiation. Moreover, the in situ implantation study in rat model further confirmed that A-TSA scaffold promoted the structural and mechanical properties of the regenerated Achilles tendon. This study demonstrated that HDAC was involved in the teno-differentiation with aligned fiber topography, and the combination of HDAC with aligned topography might be a more efficient strategy to promote tenogenesis of stem cells.

Electrospun aligned fibers, resembling the ultrastructure of tendon, have been previously reported to promote tenogenesis. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear and the aligned fibers alone are not capable enough to commit teno-differentiation of stem cells. The uniqueness of our studies are as follows, based on our observation of reduced expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs) in tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs) cultured on aligned fibers, we proposed a strategy to enhance the tenogenesis effect of aligned fibers by using a small molecule Trichostatin A (TSA), a HDAC inhibitor. Such a TSA-laden poly (l-lactic acid) (PLLA) aligned fiber (A-TSA) scaffold was successfully fabricated by a stable jet electrospinning method, and demonstrated its sustained capability in releasing TSA. The incorporation and subsequent release of bioactive small molecule TSA into electrospun aligned fibers allows a controllable manner for both biochemical and physical regulation of tenogenesis of stem cells both in vitro and in vivo. Collectively, the present study provides a model of "translating the biological knowledge learned from cell-material interaction into optimizing biomaterials (from Biomat-to-Biomat)".