ASC/chondrocyte-laden alginate hydrogel/PCL hybrid scaffold fabricated using 3D printing for auricle regeneration

Tissue engineering using adipose derived stem cells (ASCs) has become one of the most promising treatments for defective articular cartilage owing to the stability and dynamic differentiation of ASCs. In this study, we fabricated a 3D hybrid scaffold using poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) to support the mechanical properties of the regenerating auricle cartilage, and injected a cell-laden alginate hydrogel, containing a mixture of ASCs and chondrocytes, into the PCL scaffold. Using the cell-laden 3D auricle structure, the in vitro chondrogenesis of the ASCs with and without the presence of chondrocytes was examined. Additionally, the feasibility of utilizing the 3D cell-laden auricle structure for cartilage tissue engineering was evaluated in a rat model. In our in vitro and in vivo experiments, we observed that as the ASCs were co-cultured with the chondrocytes, chondrogenic differentiation was encouraged, and the regeneration of cartilage was significantly increased.