ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomechanics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1545773
This article is part of the Research TopicBiomechanical and Biomaterial Advances in Degenerative Diseases of Bone and JointView all 19 articles
Multifunctional MeHA hydrogel for living materials delivery with enhanced cartilage regeneration
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Orthopedics, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou Dushu Lake Hospital, Medical Centre of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
- 2Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Center, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China
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Particulated juvenile articular cartilage (PJAC) has emerged as a promising living material for articular defect treatment. However, the fragile nature of PJAC hinders its wide clinical application. Here, inspired by the chemical composition and hierarchical structure of natural cartilage, we developed a novel hydrogel carrier system for PJAC delivery. Our carrier system, MeHA@J@DM, utilized methacrylated hyaluronic acid (MeHA) to incorporate PJAC and coated it with a polymerized mixture of dopamine methacrylamide (DMA) and 2methylacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC), forming an adhesive lubricant, p(DMA-MPC). MeHA@J@DM exhibited excellent performance for PJAC protection with enhanced cell viability, bioactivity, and lubrication properties. We evaluated the effectiveness of MeHA@J@DM in cartilage cell migration, where juvenile cartilage showed greater efficiency and remodeling abilities. In vivo rabbit cartilage defect models demonstrated superior cartilage regeneration with the MeHA@J@DM hydrogel. Our findings suggest that MeHA@J@DM has translational potential for PJAC implantation to enhance cartilage regeneration and benefit patients with articular cartilage lesions.
Keywords: particulated juvenile articular cartilage, living materials, Lubrication, cartilage repair, MeHA
Received: 15 Dec 2024; Accepted: 20 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Bai, Wan, Hao, Yang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Yuefeng Hao, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Center, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China
Xing Yang, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Center, The Affiliated Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou Municipal Hospital, Gusu School, Nanjing Medical University, Suzhou, China
Hongtao Zhang, Department of Orthopedics, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Suzhou Dushu Lake Hospital, Medical Centre of Soochow University, Suzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.