Growth plate cartilage has limited self-repair ability, leading to poor bone bridge formation post-injury and ultimately limb growth defects in children. The current corrective surgeries are highly invasive, and outcomes can be unpredictable. Following growth plate injury, the direct loss of extracellular matrix (ECM) coupled with further ECM depletion due to the inhibitory effects of inflammation on the cartilage matrix protein greatly hinder chondrocyte regeneration. We designed an exosome (Exo) derived from bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) loaded ECM-mimic hydrogel to promote cartilage repair by directly supplementing ECM and anti-inflammatory properties. Aldehyde-functionalized chondroitin sulfate (OCS) was introduced into gelatin methacryloyl (GM) to form GMOCS hydrogel. Our results uncovered that GMOCS hydrogel could significantly promote the synthesis of ECM due to the doping of OCS. In addition, the GMOCS-Exos hydrogel could further promote the anabolism of chondrocytes by inhibiting inflammation and ultimately promote growth plate injury repair through ECM remodeling.

生长板软骨的自我修复能力有限，导致损伤后骨桥形成不良，最终导致儿童肢体生长缺陷。目前的矫正手术是高度侵入性的，结果可能无法预测。生长板损伤后，由于炎症对软骨基质蛋白的抑制作用，细胞外基质 (ECM) 的直接损失和进一步的 ECM 耗竭极大地阻碍了软骨细胞再生。我们设计了一种源自加载了 ECM 模拟水凝胶的骨髓间充质干细胞 (BMSC) 的外泌体 (Exo)，通过直接补充 ECM 和抗炎特性来促进软骨修复。将醛功能化硫酸软骨素 (OCS) 引入明胶甲基丙烯酰 (GM) 中形成 GMOCS 水凝胶。我们的结果发现，由于 OCS 的掺杂，GMOCS 水凝胶可以显着促进 ECM 的合成。此外，GMOCS-Exos水凝胶可以通过抑制炎症进一步促进软骨细胞的合成代谢，最终通过ECM重塑促进生长板损伤修复。