Effects of atelocollagen gel combined with cell sheets on articular cartilage repair

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26560246
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Biomedical engineering/Biomaterial science and engineering
• Research Institution: Tokai University
• Principal Investigator: SATO Masato 東海大学, 医学部, 教授 (10056335)
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 関節軟骨修復再生 / アテロコラーゲンゲル / 細胞シート

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Atelocollagen gel has the qualities of strength and transparency as well as permeability that make it suitable as carriers of humoral factors important for articular cartilage repair. Acellular sheets were fabricated from atelocollagen gel and evaluated. They attached well to and improved the handling of chondrocyte sheets. To evaluate articular cartilage repair, acellular sheets were transplanted to a rabbit osteochondral defect model and proved effective to some extent and safe without any indication of adverse events such as infection or inflammation. In a further study, the incorporation and release of TGF-β1 from the acellular sheets further improved the treatment effect. Our results suggest that the regeneration of articular cartilage may be induced by the activation of endogenous repair mechanisms.

Free Research Field

整形外科、軟骨再生医療