Effects of growth factors on heparin-carrying polystyrene-coated atelocollagen scaffold for articular cartilage tissue engineering.

The specific aim of our investigation is to study the potential use of a collagen/heparin-carrying polystyrene (HCPS) composite extracellular matrix for articular cartilage tissue engineering. Here, we created a high-performance extracellular matrix (HpECM) scaffold to build an optimal extracellular environment using an HCPS we originally developed, and an atelocollagen honeycomb-shaped-scaffold (ACHMS-scaffold) with a membrane seal. This scaffold was coated with HCPS to enable aggregation of heparin-binding growth factors such as FGF-2 and TGF-beta1 within the scaffold. Three-dimensional culture of rabbit articular chondrocytes within the HpECM-scaffold and subsequent preparation of a tissue-engineered cartilage were investigated. The results showed remarkably higher cell proliferative activity within the HpECM-pretreated-FGF-2 scaffold and the sustenance of phenotype within the HpECM-pretreated-TGF-beta1 scaffold. It was thought that both FGF-2 and TGF-beta1 were stably immobilized in the HpEMC-scaffold since HCPS generated an extracellular environment similar to that of heparan sulfate proteoglycan within the scaffold. These results suggest that an ACHMS-scaffold immobilized with HCPS can be a HpECM for cartilage regeneration to retain the heparin-binding growth factors within the scaffolds.