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Nanoparticle-Mediated TGF-β Release from Microribbon-Based Hydrogels Accelerates Stem Cell-Based Cartilage Formation In Vivo

  • Biomaterials - Engineering Cell Behavior
  • Published:
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Abstract

Conventional nanoporous hydrogels often lead to slow cartilage deposition by MSCs in 3D due to physical constraints and requirement for degradation. Our group has recently reported macroporous gelatin microribbon (μRB) hydrogels, which substantially accelerate MSC-based cartilage formation in vitro compared to conventional gelatin hydrogels. To facilitate translating the use of μRB-based scaffolds for supporting stem cell-based cartilage regeneration in vivo, there remains a need to develop a customize-designed drug delivery system that can be incorporated into μRB-based scaffolds. Towards this goal, here we report polydopamine-coated mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) that can be stably incorporated within the macroporous μRB scaffolds, and allow tunable release of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β3. We hypothesize that increasing concentration of polydopamine coating on MSNs will slow down TGF- β3 release, and TGF-β3 release from polydopamine-coated MSNs can enhance MSC-based cartilage formation in vitro and in vivo. We demonstrate that TGF-β3 released from MSNs enhance MSC-based cartilage regeneration in vitro to levels comparable to freshly added TGF-β3 in the medium, as shown by biochemical assays, mechanical testing, and histology. Furthermore, when implanted in vivo in a mouse subcutaneous model, only the group containing MSN-mediated TGF-β3 release supported continuous cartilage formation, whereas control group without MSN showed loss of cartilage matrix and undesirable endochondral ossification. The modular design of MSN-mediated drug delivery can be customized for delivering multiple drugs with individually optimized release kinetics, and may be applicable to enhance regeneration of other tissue types.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank NIH R01DE024772, NIH R01AR074502, Stanford Coulter translational seed grant, and Stanford SPARK program for funding. C.G. would like to thank the Stanford Bio-X graduate fellowship for support. The authors would also like to thank Anthony Behn for technical assistance with mechanical testing.

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No potential conflicts of interest exist.

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Author notes

  1. Danial Barati and Courtney Gegg have contributed equally to the work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Stanford University Schools of Engineering and Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Edwards R105, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Danial Barati

  2. Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University Schools of Engineering and Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Edwards R105, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Courtney Gegg

  3. Departments of Bioengineering and Orthopedic Surgery, Stanford University Schools of Engineering and Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, Edwards R105, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Fan Yang

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  1. Danial Barati
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Correspondence to Fan Yang.

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Barati, D., Gegg, C. & Yang, F. Nanoparticle-Mediated TGF-β Release from Microribbon-Based Hydrogels Accelerates Stem Cell-Based Cartilage Formation In Vivo. Ann Biomed Eng 48, 1971–1981 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-020-02522-z

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