Biodegradable poly (ester) micro-particle co-incorporating growth factor and dexametason in scaffolds for neocartilage formation

Chondrogenic differentiation is a complex process by stimulation of several kinds of factors. We have evaluated the dexamethasone (DEX) and transforming growth factor-β 3 (TGF-β 3) loaded/coated on small sized micro-particle integrated porous scaffolds embedded with rabbit bone marrow stromal cells (rBMSC). DEX and TGF-β 3 loaded/coated micro-particles integrated in the porous scaffolds significantly increased the chondrogenesis of BMSC comparing to the other constructs. To determine the release profiles of growth factor and DEX from microparticles embedded in porous scaffolds, we evaluated the growth factor and DEX release profiles from scaffolds and confocal laser microscopic views of scaffolds integrated with TGF-β 3-coated micro-particles containing DEX. RTPCR results for the resultant cartilage tissue revealed that porous scaffolds with TGF-β 3-coated micro-particles containing DEX was suitable scaffolds in that collagen Type II and COMP gene expression was actively released from transplanted rBMSCs. In addition, the fact that the porous scaffold with TGF-β 3-coated micro-particles containing DEX showed faster formation of new cartilage than those shown by other scaffolds certified the results of histology and immunochemical histology. These results suggest that the porous scaffold including TGF-β 3-coated micro-particles containing DEX is a promising candidate scaffold for cell-based tissue engineering.