Assembled/Disassembled Modular Scaffolds for Multicellular Tissue Engineering

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Xiaopeng Yu - , CAS - Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Hongshi Ma - , CAS - Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Yufeng Wang - , CAS - Shanghai Institute of Ceramics (Author)
  • Jianxin Hao - , CAS - Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Lei Chen - , CAS - Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)
  • Michael Gelinsky - , Centre for translational bone, joint and soft tissue research, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden (Author)
  • Chengtie Wu - , CAS - Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Author)

Abstract

The behavior of tissue resident cells can be influenced by the spatial arrangement of cellular interactions. Therefore, it is of significance to precisely control the spatial organization of various cells within multicellular constructs. It remains challenging to construct a versatile multicellular scaffold with ordered spatial organization of multiple cell types. Herein, a modular multicellular tissue engineering scaffold with ordered spatial distribution of different cell types is constructed by assembling varying cell-laden modules. Interestingly, the modular scaffolds can be disassembled into individual modules to evaluate the specific contribution of each cell type in the system. Through assembling cell-laden modules, the macrophage-mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), endothelial cell-MSC, and chondrocyte-MSC co-culture models are successfully established. The in vitro results indicate that the intercellular cross-talk can promote the proliferation and differentiation of each cell type in the system. Moreover, MSCs in the modular scaffolds may regulate the behavior of chondrocytes through the nuclear factor of activated T-Cells (NFAT) signaling pathway. Furthermore, the modular scaffolds loaded with co-cultured chondrocyte-MSC exhibit enhanced regeneration ability of osteochondral tissue, compared with other groups. Overall, this work offers a promising strategy to construct a multicellular tissue engineering scaffold for the systematic investigation of intercellular cross-talk and complex tissue engineering.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2308126
JournalAdvanced materials
Volume36
Issue number21
Publication statusPublished - 23 May 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

Mendeley 4fddcb9e-3901-3094-be4c-eea2f576b284
ORCID /0000-0001-9075-5121/work/160478325

Keywords

Keywords

  • cell spatial distribution, intercellular cross-talk, modular assembled scaffolds, multicellular tissue engineering