Sustainable Fabrication of Tailored Bone Substitutes: From High-Throughput Scaffold Manufacturing, Scaled-Up HMSC Expansion to Dynamic Cultivation in a Perfusion Bioreactor

Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review

Contributors

  • Franziska Braun - , Chair of Biomaterials (Author)
  • Anna Paříková - , Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem (Author)
  • Sandra Rother - , Saarland University (Author)
  • Martin Kantor - , Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem (Author)
  • Salman Muhammad Ilyas - , Chair of Biomaterials (Author)
  • Ricardo Bernhardt - , Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (Author)
  • Pavel Ndjawa Yomi - , University of Rostock (Author)
  • Jaromír Havlica - , Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Jan Evangelista Purkyne University in Usti nad Labem (Author)
  • Revathi Appali - , University of Rostock (Author)
  • Benjamin Kruppke - , Institute for Bioprocessing and Analytical Measurement Techniques, Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Author)
  • Poh Soo Lee - , Chair of Biomaterials (Author)

Abstract

The demand for off-the-shelf biocompatible bone substitutes has driven the development of numerous independent in vitro technologies to generate products resembling physiological tissues. Due to technical challenges and overly simplified cultivation approaches/niches, the end-products are often uniformly shaped and inferior to native bone tissue. In this report, three major technologies are implemented cohesively to address these shortfalls: (1) Spinner flasks for scaled-up stem cell expansion, (2) Manufacturing via 3D-printing and cast-molding processes, large modular collagen-based (COL) scaffolds +/− chondroitin sulfate A (CSA) of tailored dimensions, (3) Perfusion bioreactor with controlled oxygen tension (pO2) to support high cell density and osteochondral differentiation. We report an oxygenated in vitro niche within the bioreactor that supports high cell density and self-induced osteogenic differentiation for 60 days. Enhanced mineralization and osteogenic gene expression in COL scaffolds were observed, while COL + CSA scaffolds exhibited elevated Col10a gene expression for hypertrophic chondrocytes, a representative indicator of active endochondral ossification. In summary, this report describes an integral approach to consistently and rapidly achieve physiologically relevant bone substitutes of tailored dimensions. Furthermore, the pivotal effect of recapitulating endochondral ossification in vitro through dynamic bioreactor culture is demonstrated, paving the way to generate complex tissue structures in the future.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere23846
Number of pages21
JournalAdvanced Science
Volume13
Issue number56
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 23 Jul 2026
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-2285-3621/work/222088148
Mendeley 782b0144-6df9-397f-996b-0a1ca345c503
PubMed 42490685
Scopus 105045515112

Keywords

Research priority areas of TU Dresden

DFG Classification of Subject Areas according to Review Boards

Subject groups, research areas, subject areas according to Destatis

Keywords

  • 3D-printing, biomimetic bioreactor, endochondral ossification, Human mesenchymal stromal cell, modular manufacturing, oxygen tension, spinner flas, spinner flask, human mesenchymal stromal cells