Development of scaffolds for cartilage tissue engineering using marine collagen: beyond the paradigm

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K19130
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 40:Forestry and forest products science, applied aquatic science, and related fields
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: TAKAGI Yasuaki 北海道大学, 水産科学研究院, 教授 (10212002)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 浦 和寛 北海道大学, 水産科学研究院, 准教授 (90360940)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 魚類Ⅱ型コラーゲン / 細胞足場 / 軟骨組織工学 / 水産廃棄物利用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study challenged the realization of the medical application of fish collagen obtained from wastes. Using the type II atelocollagen purified from the sturgeon notochord (NC), a novel method to coat cell-culture coverslips with highly aligned collagen fibrils was developed. The NC fibrils strongly accelerated the differentiation of ATDC5 pre-chondrocytes to mature chondrocytes and induced the cells to secrete cartilage extracellular matrices actively. Moreover, the high transparency of the coating enabled the time-lapse video study, which will be a powerful tool for understanding the reactions of chondrocytes to type-II collagen fibrils. The coating could be applicable to the scaffolds made of artificial materials for cartilage tissue engineering (CTE) to enhance their biocompatibility. In addition, A novel method to fabricate a hydrogel made of NC type II collagen was developed. The hydrogel's functionality as CTE scaffolds awaits to be clarified.

Free Research Field

水産学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本課題では哺乳類やトリ由来Ⅱ型コラーゲンでは実現し得なかった，Ⅱ型コラーゲン原線維からなる軟骨組織工学用材料の開発に成功した。たとえばNC原線維を生体適合性が低い人工高分子を用いた軟骨組織工学用人工足場材料表面にコートすれば，力学強度と生体適合性，強い軟骨細胞分化活性を合わせ持つ新規材料の合成が可能になる。加えて，光学的透過性が高いNC原線維コートはタイムラプスビデオ観察等が応用でき，Ⅱ型コラーゲン原線維に対する軟骨細胞の反応を詳細に調べるための研究ツールとしても類を見ないものである。これらの成果は魚類加工残渣由来コラーゲンの医療利用に大きく一歩を踏み出すための基盤的成果であると考える。