Articular cartilage is a tissue notoriously hard to regenerate due to its extremely poor regenerative properties. Even small cartilage defects are permanent and difficult to heal. No currently available treatment provides a perfect solution. As an emerging 3D tissue manufacturing technique, 3D bioprinting offers great precision and control of the geometry of complex tissue scaffolds. If successful, this project has the potential to be impactful to the field of cartilage tissue engineering, leading to significantly improved human health. Moreover, the resultant 3D bioprinting design principles, stem cell regulation mechanisms and nanomaterials can serve as a translational foundation for other tissue/organ regeneration. This award is being made jointly by two Programs: (1) Biomedical Engineering, (2) Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, both in the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems Division in the Engineering Directorate.
Due to the nanometer dimension of human cartilage extracellular matrix, nanomaterials with biomimetic features and excellent physiochemical properties are promising in cartilage regeneration. The objective of this project is to create a novel 3D nano, micro, and chemical cartilage construct via 3D bioprinting and biologically inspired nanomaterials and to investigate their effects on promoting human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) growth and chondrogenic differentiation in vitro. Toward this objective, the proposed approach is to design two biologically inspired nanomaterials with a nanostructure and sustained growth factor delivery. A 3D bioprinted cartilage construct containing the two innovative nanomaterials will then be fabricated and MSC functions will be evaluated in vitro. Through this study, the investigators expect to create new 3D bioprinted nano cartilage constructs and explore a spatiotemporally bioactive factor environment for stimulated MSC chondrogenic differentiation and cartilage regeneration in situ. The use of cutting-edge 3D bioprinting is expected to invoke extensive interest among students and the general public. A series of plans to integrate research activities with the education of a broad and diverse audience, including high school students, undergraduate students, graduate students, and medical residents, will be presented. The proposed efforts will contribute to a significant educational effect on different levels of students and inspire them to explore exciting new pathways in these multidisciplinary fields.
