TY - JOUR A1 - Gögele, Clemens A1 - Müller, Silvana A1 - Belov, Svetlana A1 - Pradel, Andreas A1 - Wiltzsch, Sven A1 - Lenhart, Armin A1 - Hornfeck, Markus A1 - Kerling, Vera A1 - Rübling, Achim A1 - Kühl, Hannes A1 - Schäfer-Eckart, Kerstin A1 - Minnich, Bernd A1 - Weiger, Thomas Martin A1 - Schulze-Tanzil, Gundula T1 - Biodegradable Poly(D-L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-Infiltrated Bioactive Glass (CAR12N) Scaffolds Maintain Mesenchymal Stem Cell Chondrogenesis for Cartilage Tissue Engineering JF - Cells N2 - Regeneration of articular cartilage remains challenging. The aim of this study was to increase the stability of pure bioactive glass (BG) scaffolds by means of solvent phase polymer infiltration and to maintain cell adherence on the glass struts. Therefore, BG scaffolds either pure or enhanced with three different amounts of poly(D-L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) were characterized in detail. Scaffolds were seeded with primary porcine articular chondrocytes (pACs) and human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) in a dynamic long-term culture (35 days). Light microscopy evaluations showed that PLGA was detectable in every region of the scaffold. Porosity was greater than 70%. The biomechanical stability was increased by polymer infiltration. PLGA infiltration did not result in a decrease in viability of both cell types, but increased DNA and sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) contents of hMSCs-colonized scaffolds. Successful chondrogenesis of hMSC-colonized scaffolds was demonstrated by immunocytochemical staining of collagen type II, cartilage proteoglycans and the transcription factor SOX9. PLGA-infiltrated scaffolds showed a higher relative expression of cartilage related genes not only of pAC-, but also of hMSC-colonized scaffolds in comparison to the pure BG. Based on the novel data, our recommendation is BG scaffolds with single infiltrated PLGA for cartilage tissue engineering. KW - bioactive glass; CAR12N; cartilage regeneration; polymer infiltration; chondrogenesis Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11091577 SN - 2073-4409 VL - 11 IS - 9 PB - MDPI AG ER -