Adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells and chitosan/poly (vinyl alcohol) nanofibrous scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering

Osteoarthritis (OA) has been defined as a chronic inflammatory joint disease characterized by progressive articular cartilage degeneration. Recently growing interest in regenerative medicine, using cell therapy and tissue engineering, where cellular components in combination with engineered scaffolds and bioactive materials were used to induce functional tissue regeneration. In the present study, nanofibrous scaffold based on chitosan (CS)/poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were used to develop biologically functionalized biomaterial to mimic the extracellular matrix, allowing the human adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADSCs) to proliferate and differentiate to chondrogenic cells. The morphology of the nanofibrous mat was examined using field emission scanning electron microscope (FE/SEM). The characteristic functional groups and the nature of the chemical bonds between atoms were evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectrum. Characterization of the seeded cells was morphologically evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and by flow cytometry for the expression of the stem cell surface markers. The differentiation potential was verified after chondrogenic induction by analyzing the expression of chondrogenic marker genes using real-time (RT PCR). Current study suggest significant potential for the use of ADSCs with the nanofibrous scaffolds in improving the osteoarthritis pathology.