Hierarchical Ionic-Doped Scaffolds for Osteochondral Tissue Engineering

The repair of osteochondral (OC) defects has been increasing owing the high number of trauma related injuries or osteoarthritis. Although current clinical options are effective for the treatment of the OC defects, new therapeutic options are necessary for the complete regeneration of the damaged articular cartilage¹. Three-dimensional hierarchical scaffolds structured with several levels of organization can provide enhanced mechanical performance and allow suitable transduction of the mechanical stimuli to the cellular level. Hierarchical scaffolds composed of silk fibroin and calcium phosphates incorporating different ions (eg. Sr, Zn, Mn) for the repair/regeneration of cartilage and bone are herein developed. These scaffolds presented great bioresorbability and osteointegration, and high mechanical strength². The presence of these ions in the scaffolds can stimulate osteogenesis and angiogenesis, and to tune not only the host healing response at the site of injury to facilitate the tissue repair, but also to mimic native OC tissue organization with the ultimate goal of achieving a fully integrated and functional engineered tissue^3.