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Evaluation of alginate hydrogels under in vivo–like bioreactor conditions for cartilage tissue engineering

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Abstract

Alginate hydrogels in forms of discs and packed beds of microbeads (~800 μm) were tested in a novel bioreactor at 10% strain using two regimes: at a loading rate of 337.5 μm/s and at sequential increments of 50 μm displacement every 30 min. Compressive strength increased with the increase in alginate concentration (1.5 vs. 2% w/w) and the content of guluronic residues (38.5 vs. 67%). Packed beds of microbeads exhibited significantly higher (~1.5–3.4 fold) compression moduli than the respective discs indicating the effects of gel form and entrapped water. Short-term cultivation of microbeads with immobilized bovine calf chondrocytes (1.5% w/w, 33 × 106 cells/ml) under biomimetic conditions (dynamic compression: 1 h on/1 h off, 0.42 Hz, 10% strain) resulted in cell proliferation and bed compaction, so that the compression modulus slightly increased. Thus, the novel bioreactor demonstrated advantages in evaluation of biomaterial properties and cell-biomaterial interactions under in vivo–like settings.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF, SCOPES grant IB73B0-111016/1) and the Ministry of Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia (Grant 142075).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11120, Belgrade, Serbia

    Jasmina Stojkovska, Branko Bugarski & Bojana Obradovic

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  1. Jasmina Stojkovska
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  2. Branko Bugarski
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  3. Bojana Obradovic
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Correspondence to Bojana Obradovic.

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Stojkovska, J., Bugarski, B. & Obradovic, B. Evaluation of alginate hydrogels under in vivo–like bioreactor conditions for cartilage tissue engineering. J Mater Sci: Mater Med 21, 2869–2879 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10856-010-4135-0

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