Photo Credit: Edward Olive

Meniscus tears in the avascular region undergoing partial or full meniscectomy lead to knee osteoarthritis and concurrent lifestyle hindrances in the young and aged alike.

Here they reported ingenious photo-polymerizable autologous growth factor loaded 3D printed scaffolds to potentially treat meniscal defects.

A shear-thinning photo-crosslinkable silk fibroin methacrylate-gelatin methacrylate-polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate biomaterial-ink is formulated and loaded with freeze-dried growth factor rich plasma (GFRP) . The biomaterial-ink exhibits optimal rheological properties and shape fidelity for 3D printing.

Initial evaluation revealed that the 3D printed scaffolds mimic mechanical characteristics of meniscus, possess favorable porosity and swelling characteristics, and demonstrate sustained GFRP release.

GFRP laden 3D scaffolds are screened with human neo-natal stem cells in vitro and biomaterial-ink comprising of 25 mg mL of GFRP (GFRP25) is found to be amicable for meniscus tissue engineering.

GFRP25 ink demonstrated rigorous rheological compliance, and printed constructs demonstrated long term degradability (>6 weeks), GFRP release (>5 weeks), and mechanical durability (3 weeks).

GFRP25 scaffolds aided in proliferation of seeded human neo-natal stem cellsand their meniscus-specific fibrochondrogenic differentiation.

GFRP25 constructs show amenable inflammatory response in vitro and in vivo.

GFRP25 biomaterial-ink and printed GFRP25 scaffolds could be potential patient-specific treatment modalities for meniscal defects.

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