Natural Trabecular Bone as a Mineralized Substrate for Osteochondral Tissueengineered Hydrogel Constructs

INTRODUCTION: Since partial defects in articular cartilage do not heal spontaneously, whereas injuries that penetrate the subchondral bone undergo some repair [1], we have begun to consider the development of tissue engineered osteochondral constructs consisting of a hybrid scaffold of chondrocyte-seeded hydrogel and devitalized trabecular bone; such a scaffold may improve cartilage repair and graft-host tissue integration in vivo. The objective of the current study is to develop a methodology for assembling osteochondral constructs and to investigate their cellular response, where: chondrocyte seeded agarose gel forms the articular surface and extends through the full depth of the bony substrate (group 1); chondrocyte seeded agarose gel forms the articular surface and extends only partially through an unseeded (group 2) or osteoblast seeded bony substrate (group 3).