In vitro chondrocyte collagen deposition within porous HDPE: substrate microstructure and wettability effects

The effects of microstructure and wettability of porous high density polyethylene (HDPE) substrates on chondrocyte collagen synthesis in vitro were assayed. Three size grades of hydrophilic and hydrophobic HDPE substrates with ranges of pore volumes of 40-60%, pore sizes of 115-335 microns, and surface areas per unit volumes of 7-20 mm2/mm3 were seeded with fetal bovine chondrocytes. After 7 days of incubation, the cells within all substrates remained spherical, and contained mainly type II collagen (as verified by type I and II collagen I-ELISAs). After 21 days, the majority of cells had spread; however, the matrices still contained mainly type II collagen. The hydrophilic matrices contained significantly more type II collagen than the hydrophobic matrices at both 7 and 21 days, whereas the amount of type II collagen was not influenced by the pore attributes. A significantly higher percentage of type II collagen was also observed in all seeded porous substrates as compared with seeded polystyrene culture dishes, perhaps indicating that the three-dimensional particular nature of the HDPE matrices enhanced the maintenance of phenotypically differentiated chondrocytes and entrapment of their extracellular matrix products.