Ultrafast, tough, and adhesive hydrogel based on hybrid photocrosslinking for articular cartilage repair in water-filled arthroscopy

Yujie Hua; Huitang Xia; Litao Jia; Jinzhong Zhao; Dandan Zhao; Xiaoyu Yan; Yiqing Zhang; Shengjian Tang; Guangdong Zhou; Linyong Zhu; Qiuning Lin

doi:10.1126/sciadv.abg0628

Ultrafast, tough, and adhesive hydrogel based on hybrid photocrosslinking for articular cartilage repair in water-filled arthroscopy

Sci Adv. 2021 Aug 25;7(35):eabg0628. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abg0628. Print 2021 Aug.

Authors

Yujie Hua^{1

2}, Huitang Xia^{1

3}, Litao Jia^{2

3}, Jinzhong Zhao⁴, Dandan Zhao^{2

3}, Xiaoyu Yan⁴, Yiqing Zhang⁵, Shengjian Tang³, Guangdong Zhou^{6

2

3}, Linyong Zhu^{5

7}, Qiuning Lin⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai 9th People's Hospital, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
² National Tissue Engineering Center of China, Shanghai, China.
³ Research Institute of Plastic Surgery, Weifang Medical University, Weifang, Shandong, China.
⁴ Department of Sports Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials and Joint International Research Laboratory of Precision Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Feringa Nobel Prize Scientist Joint Research Center, School of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, 130# Meilong Road, Shanghai 200237, China.
⁶ Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Shanghai 9th People's Hospital, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Tissue Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China. guangdongzhou@126.com qiuninglin@sjtu.edu.cn.
⁷ School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁸ School of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China. guangdongzhou@126.com qiuninglin@sjtu.edu.cn.

Abstract

A hydrogel scaffold for direct tissue-engineering application in water-irrigated, arthroscopic cartilage repair, is badly needed. However, such hydrogels must cure quickly under water, bind strongly and permanently to the surrounding tissue, and maintain sufficient mechanical strength to withstand the hydraulic pressure of arthroscopic irrigation (~10 kilopascal). To address these challenges, we report a versatile hybrid photocrosslinkable (HPC) hydrogel fabricated though a combination of photoinitiated radical polymerization and photoinduced imine cross-linking. The ultrafast gelation, high mechanical strength, and strong adhesion to native tissue enable the direct use of these hydrogels in irrigated arthroscopic treatments. We demonstrate, through in vivo articular cartilage defect repair in the weight-bearing regions of swine models, that the HPC hydrogel can serve as an arthroscopic autologous chondrocyte implantation scaffold for long-term cartilage regeneration, integration, and reconstruction of articular function.

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