Molecular recognition-directed site-specific release of stem cell differentiation inducers for enhanced joint repair

作者：Liu, Xuemin; Chen, Yunhua; Mao, Angelina S.; Xuan, Chengkai; Wang, Zhifang; Gao, Huichang; An, Geng; Zhu, Ye; Shi, Xuetao^*; Mao, Chuanbin^*

来源：Biomaterials, 2020, 232: 119644.

DOI：10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.119644

• Biomimetic material
• Drug nanobox
• host-guest interactions
• Differentiation inducer
• Osteochondral regeneration
• Tissue regeneration

The remarkable difference in cell type and matrix composition between two connected parts of a joint (cartilage and subchondral bone) makes it challenging to simultaneously regenerate both parts for joint repair. Thus we chemically designed a biphasic hydrogel made of two well-bonded shape-tunable hydrogel phases, termed bone-regenerating hydrogel (BRH) and cartilage-regenerating hydrogel (CRH). The BRH and CRH, encapsulating stem cells, were produced by photo-crosslinking bone and cartilage matrix-mimicking biopolymers and a nanobox cyclodextrin) in situ in the subchondral bone defect and cartilage defect, respectively. The nanoboxes in BRH and CRH were loaded with osteogenic and chondrogenic differentiation inducers (melatonin and kartogenin) by host guest interactions, respectively. Such interactions directed the sustained phase- and defect site-specific release of the inducers and subsequent site-specific stem cell differentiation into cartilage and bone forming cells for joint repair. The strategy opens up a new chemical approach to biomaterials with phase-specific drug release for tissue repair.

• 单位
  广州医学院