2017 ISAKOS Biennial Congress ePoster #319

 

In Vitro Repair of Meniscal Radial Tear Using Aligned Electrospun Nanofibrous Scaffold

Kazunori Shimomura, MD, PhD, Prof., Kashiwara-city, Osaka JAPAN
Allison C. Bean , PhD, Pittsburgh UNITED STATES
Hang Lin, PhD, Pittsburgh, PA UNITED STATES
Norimasa Nakamura, MD, PhD, Osaka, Osaka JAPAN
Rocky S. Tuan, PhD, Shatin, Hong Kong HONG KONG

Center for Cellular and Molecular Engineering, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, UNITED STATES

FDA Status Not Applicable

Summary

We have developed a functional cell-seeded electrospun nanofibrous scaffold as a new surgical method to enhance meniscal radial repair.

Abstract

Radial tears of the meniscus result in loss of biomechanical meniscal function. However, there have been no effective treatments for radial meniscal tears. Recently, nanofibrous scaffolds produced by electrospinning have shown high promise in the engineering of soft musculoskeletal tissues. The goal of our study is to apply these technologies to develop a functional cell-seeded scaffold as a new surgical method to enhance meniscal radial repair.
Cylinder-shaped explants were excised from the avascular region of bovine meniscus with the long axis aligned along the direction of the meniscal circumferential fibers. A radial tear was created in the center of the explant. The torn site was wrapped with either poly(e-caprolactone)-based, aligned nanofibrous scaffold alone or scaffold seeded with meniscal fibrochondrocytes (MFC) with the scaffold fiber direction matching that of the main meniscal fibers. A control group was prepared as explants without scaffolds or cells. The composite constructs in each group were cultured in vitro for 4 and 8 weeks, and were then assessed histologically and mechanically.
Histological analysis showed partial repair of the radial tear in explants wrapped with either the scaffold alone or cell-seeded scaffold. The scaffold, regardless of cell-seeding, was observed to adhere closely to the native meniscal tissue at 4 and 8 weeks. Only the cell-seeded scaffold exhibited significant positive Picrosirius red staining and Safranin O staining. Mechanical properties of the repaired meniscus in the cell-seeded group at 8 weeks were significantly higher than those of the control group at 4 weeks.
These results demonstrated the applicability of the MFC-seeded nanofibrous scaffold for meniscal radial tear repair. In particular, the highly adhesive property of the cell-seeded scaffold to the meniscal tissue should be beneficial in stabilizing the circumferential meniscal fibers and help to preserve the function of hoop structure.