Generation of hybrid tissue engineered construct through embedding autologous chondrocyte loaded platelet rich plasma/alginate based hydrogel in porous scaffold for cartilage regeneration

Over the past decades, various attempts have been made to develop suitable tissue-engineered constructs to repair or regenerate the damaged or diseased articular cartilage. In the present study, we embedded Platelet rich plasma (PRP)/Sodium Alginate (SA) based hydrogel in porous 3D scaffold of chitosan (CH)/chondroitin sulfate (CS)/silk fibroin (SF) to develop hybrid scaffold for cartilage tissue construct generation with abilities to support shape recovery potential, facilitate uniform cells distribution and mimic gel like cartilage tissue extracellular matrix.The developed hybrid matrix shows suitable pore size (55-261 μm), porosity (77 ± 4.3%) and compressive strength (0.13 ± 0.04 MPa) for cartilage tissue construct generation and its applications. The developed SA/PRP-based cartilage construct exhibits higher metabolic activity, glycosaminoglycan deposition, expression of collagen type II, and aggrecan in comparison to SA based cell-scaffold construct. In-vivo animal study was also performed to investigate the biocompatibility and cartilage tissue regeneration potential of the developed construct. The obtained gross analysis of knee sample, micro-computed tomography, and histological analysis suggest that implanted tissue construct possess the superior potential to regenerate hyaline cartilage defect of thickness around 1.10 ± 0.36 mm and integrate with surrounding tissue at the defect site. Thus, the proposed strategy for the development of cartilage tissue constructs might be beneficial for the repair of full-thickness knee articular cartilage defects.