Development and In Vivo Assessment of an Injectable Crosslinked Cartilage Acellular Matrix-PEG Hydrogel Scaffold Derived from Porcine Cartilage for Tissue Engineering.

The cartilage acellular matrix (CAM) derived from porcine cartilage, which does not induce significant inflammation and provides an environment conducive for cell growth and differentiation, is a promising biomaterial candidate for scaffold fabrication. However, the CAM has a short period in vivo, and the in vivo maintenance is not controlled. Therefore, this study wasaimed at developing an injectable hydrogel scaffold using a CAM. The CAM wascrosslinked with a biocompatible polyethylene glycol (PEG) crosslinker to replace typically used glutaraldehyde (GA) crosslinker. The crosslinking degree of cross-linked CAM by PEG cross-linker (Cx-CAM-PEG) according to the ratios of the CAM and PEG crosslinker wasconfirmed by contact angle and heat capacities measured by differential scanning calorimetry. The injectable Cx-CAM-PEG suspension exhibited controllable rheological properties and injectability. Additionally, injectable Cx-CAM-PEG suspensions with no free aldehyde group wereformed in the in vivo hydrogel scaffold almost simultaneously with injection. In vivo maintenance of Cx-CAM-PEG wasrealized by the crosslinking ratio. The in vivo formed Cx-CAM-PEG hydrogel scaffold exhibited certain host-cell infiltration and negligible inflammation within and near the transplanted Cx-CAM-PEG hydrogel scaffold. These results suggest that injectable Cx-CAM-PEG suspensions, which are safe and biocompatible in vivo, represent potential candidates for (pre-)clinical scaffolds. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.