In Vitro Evaluation of an Adhesive Hydrogel-Based Chondrocyte Carrier for Enhanced Therapeutic Delivery

Large knee chondral defects remain a major challenge in orthopaedic surgery and may lead to osteoarthritis. Autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) is a widely used regenerative therapy; current techniques have inherent limitations related to cell delivery, retention, and integration. This study investigates a novel adhesive hydrogel as a cell carrier for enhanced therapeutic delivery in cartilage repair. This injectable hydrogel can lead to a paradigm shift in ACI through removing the need for membranes entirely and enabling direct in situ fixation of cell-laden constructs while preserving the chondrocytic phenotype. In this work, we report in vitro encapsulation of human autologous chondrocytes (HACs) using cells from five orthopedic patients within this hydrogel with subsequent in vitro evaluation of functional outcomes, including cell viability, glycosaminoglycan production, histological and immunohistological outcomes, and evolution of mechanical properties of the cell constructs. Moreover, by analyzing the hydrogel polymer content (PC), we identified an optimal formulation balancing biological activity and mechanical integrity.