Fabrication of nanofibrillar extracellular matrix (ECM) mimics for tendon tissue engineering

Abstract

Tendon injuries affect millions of people annually. Sports players and elder population get affected from tendon injuries in large numbers. Conventional treatment options to treat tendon injuries are not much effective and have several drawbacks. To overcome drawbacks of conventional treatment methods, polymer based artificial tendon grafts are being developed using natural and synthetic biopolymers. Here, we used Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and gelatin for the fabrication of artificial tendon grafts. We fabricated aligned nanofibers using electrospinning. Our main goal here was to mimic tendon Extracellular matrix (ECM) architecture, composition and mechanical properties. Tendon ECM consists of water, collagen, proteoglycans, elastin and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs). We are testing sulfated Carboxymethyl cellulose (sCMC) as a structural and chemical mimic for sulfated GAGs such as heparin sulfate and chondroitin sulfate. The prime objective of this project was to develop an artificial tendon tissue graft. The main part of developing this graft was to mimic the natural tendon extra cellular matrix environment, which is essential for tissue growth. Good mechanical property, tensile strength, biocompatibility, and biodegradability are essential properties of these artificial grafts. Such artificial tendon grafts may be useful alternatives to auto-, allo-, and xenogenic tendon grafts.