Composite chitosan-calcium phosphate scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering

Abstract

Cartilage covering the articulating surfaces of bones in diarthrodial joints provides for almost frictionless motion. If this tissue is damaged either due to traumatic injury or disease, it lacks the ability of self-repair. The goal of cartilage tissue engineering is to regenerate healthy hyaline cartilage by combining chondrocytes or stem cells with a variety of natural and synthetic scaffold materials. Chitin is one of the most abundant naturally occurring polysaccharides. Its deacetylated derivative chitosan is biocompatible, biodegradable, and may retain functional characteristics that promote site-appropriate tissue reconstruction. This chapter includes methods for fabrication of chitosan-calcium phosphate (CHI- CaP) composite scaffolds, scaffold physical characteristics, as well as techniques for creation of cartilage/CHI-CaP biphasic constructs. Coating CHI-CaP scaffolds with type I collagen facilitates formation of a continuous layer of neocartilage with approximately uniform thickness over the cell-seeded area. Aspects of the scaffold's degradation are also discussed.