Silk and Ceramics Combined as Replacement Joint Tissue

Collaborators from Tufts University and Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering Research Unit at University of Sydney, Australia has developed an artificial material that may end up being used to replace damaged joint tissue caused by injury or disease. The material mimics the properties of osteochondral tissue that consists of both cartilage and bone, the two giving it both softness and strength. The artificial material does it using silk fibroin and bioactive ceramics, closely replicating the porous nature of the real stuff and having comparative mechanical characteristics such as weight bearing. The huge advantage though is that this material serves as a scaffold for stem cells to proliferate through and grow into real tissue, itself in the meantime slowly biodegrading as natural cartilage and bone fill its space.

From the study abstract in Journal of Materials Chemistry B:

Structural examination showed that the biphasic scaffold contained two phases with different pore morphologies to match the cartilage and bone segments of osteochondral tissue, which were joined at a continuous interface. Mechanical assessment showed that the two phases of the biphasic scaffold imitated the load-bearing behaviour of native osteochondral tissue and matched its compressive properties. In vitro testing showed that different compositions in the two phases of the biphasic scaffold could direct the preferential differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells towards the chondrogenic or osteogenic lineage. By featuring simple and reproducible fabrication and a well-integrated interface, the biphasic scaffold strategy established in this study circumvented the common problems experienced with integrated scaffold designs and could provide an effective approach for the regeneration of osteochondral tissue.

Study in Journal of Materials Chemistry B: A biphasic scaffold based on silk and bioactive ceramic with stratified properties for osteochondral tissue regeneration…

Via: NIH…