Bone and Cartilage Tissue Engineering and Regeneration Using Hydrogel-based Scaffolds

Albert Steinbeck^*
*Correspondence: Albert Steinbeck, Department of Pharmaceutics Science, University of Florida, Florida, USA, Email:

Editorial

For the regeneration of major bone lesions, tissue engineering is a viable alternative to autografts or allografts. Cell-free biomaterials of various degrees of sophistication can be employed to encourage bone repair in the host tissue for a variety of therapeutic reasons. When osteoprogenitors are not present in the injured tissue, foreign cells with the ability to differentiate into osteoblasts must be used. These cells must be able to colonise the deficiency and contribute to the formation of new bone tissue. Cells must survive, persist in the defect site, eventually proliferate, and differentiate into adult osteoblasts in order to achieve this goal [1].

For the regeneration of major bone lesions, tissue engineering is a viable alternative to autografts or allografts. Cell-free biomaterials of various degrees of sophistication can be employed to encourage bone repair in the host tissue for a variety of therapeutic reasons. When osteoprogenitors are not present in the injured tissue, foreign cells with the ability to differentiate into osteoblasts must be used. These cells must be able to colonise the deficiency and contribute to the formation of new bone tissue. Cells must survive, persist in the defect site, eventually proliferate, and differentiate into adult osteoblasts in order to achieve this goal [2].

The need for these engrafted cells to be nourished with oxygen and nutrients is critical: the temporary absence of a vascular network during implantation is a big problem. In vitro and in vivo, these strategies entail the use of scaffolds that are designed to generate the right microenvironment for cells to survive, proliferate, and differentiate. Hydrogels are a diverse class of materials that can be easily cellular zed and can be used to fill bone defects and promote bone tissue regeneration in a minimally invasive manner. Furthermore, by experimenting with their composition and processing, biocompatible systems with adequate chemical, biological, and mechanical qualities can be created. However, efficient bone regeneration requires a proper combination of scaffold and cells, maybe with the help of integrated growth factors. The key parameters of the many diverse micro-environments formed within hydrogels are identified in this study of the tactics utilised to construct cellular zed hydrogel-based systems for bone regeneration. Each year, severe bone lesions result in hundreds of millions of surgical treatments all over the world.

Bone is a living, vascularized tissue with the ability to mend itself when damaged [3]. However, major defects such as non-union fractures, maxillofacial trauma tumour ablations, intervertebral disc damage or degeneration impede this capability, necessitating surgical treatments such as the use of autografts, allografts, or exogenous biomaterial grafting. These grafted materials must be mechanically stable and provide an environment conducive to rapid healing.

These methods have a number of drawbacks autografts may induce tissue morbidity, and donor tissue is scarce allografts provide a significant danger of infection and immunogenic rejection mechanisms and solid biomaterials such as collagen pose a significant risk of infection and immunogenic rejection mechanisms. New kinds of biomaterials for bone healing are the subject of extensive research in this field. Bone tissue engineering is a potential technique for bone regeneration based on the use of 3D matrices scaffolds to direct cellular growth and differentiation and stimulates the deposition of new bone tissue. Hydrogels are one of the most promising biomaterials for BTE applications because they are incredibly flexible materials that can be created to have minimal invasive procedures and various varied features targeted for specific applications. In reality, hydrogels should preferably be injectable.

Hydrogels, unlike rigid scaffolds, can form close connections with the host tissue, reducing fibrosis and promoting osteoconductivity. Hydrogels' only drawback is their poor rigidity, which prevents them from being used to heal load-bearing lesions like massive long-bone fractures. Hydrogels, on the other hand, appear to be lesion filling materials. Hydrogels are waterloving. Polymeric 3D networks that can hold and/or release cells for tissue regeneration bioactive chemicals like growth factors in a regulated manner. Encapsulated cells in hydrogel systems might have two different impacts. They can directly participate in tissue regeneration as building blocks, which necessitate their long-term survival. Alternatively, they can promote host responses, encouraging tissue regeneration in the long run. In this situation, the cells' transitory persistence may be adequate. Regardless of the methods, the selection of appropriate progenitor cells and culture conditions prior to incorporation in the hydrogel scaffold is critical for BTE product efficiency.

Bone has a built-in ability to self-repair. Bone healing processes aren't completely known, but understanding them is essential for designing and developing new effective techniques for treating non-healing bone abnormalities. When a fracture occurs, the skeletal integrity is compromised and the bone vascular network is disrupted, causing nutrient and oxygen supply to be impeded and the marrow structure to be affected. The tissue regeneration process then begins, which is divided into three phases inflammation reactive, reparative, and remodelling [4].

A blood clot hematoma forms locally in the early stages of inflammation, and growth factors insulin-like growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor and cytokines are generated to attract and regulate monocyte macrophages and osteo-chondroblast precursor cells [5]. The recruited immune cells then secrete signalling molecules, tumour necrosis factor vascular endothelial growth factor interleukin and interleukin that stimulate ECM synthesis and angiogenesis, as well as chemotactically attract other inflammatory cells and mesenchymal cell precursors mostly originating from the periosteum.

Conflict of Interest

None.

References

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