Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 67, Issue 2 , Pages 257-264, February 2009

Novel Approach to Engineer Implantable Nasal Alar Cartilage Employing Marrow Precursor Cell Sheet and Biodegradable Scaffold

  • Junrui Zhang, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, People's Republic of China
  • ,
  • Liangqi Liu, MS

      Affiliations

    • Student, Rege Lab of Tissue Engineering, Faculty of Life Science Northwest University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Zhan Gao, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Liwen Li, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Rege Lab of Tissue Engineering, Faculty of Life Science Northwest University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Xinghua Feng, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Wei Wu, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Qin Ma, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Xiaobing Cheng, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Fulin Chen, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Professor, Rege Lab of Tissue Engineering, Faculty of Life Science Northwest University, Xi'an, P.R. China
  • ,
  • Tianqiu Mao, DDS

      Affiliations

    • Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, P.R. China
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence and reprint requests to Dr Mao: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Qindu Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Chang Le Xi Road 145#, Xi'an, P.R. China 710032

Purpose

Repair of nasal and auricular malformation remains an obstacle for clinicians because of poor regenerative capacity of cartilage and limitation of donor sites. In the current study, we developed a novel approach to regenerate implantable nasal alar cartilage by using marrow precursor cell (MPC) sheet and biodegradable scaffold of polylactic acid-polyglycolic acid copolymer (PLGA).

Materials and Methods

Rabbit MPCs were expanded and induced by transforming growth factor-β to improve chondrocyte phenotype. MPC sheets were obtained by continuous culture and used to wrap PLGA scaffold in the shape of the human nasal alar. The constructs were incubated in a spinner flask for 4 weeks, and cartilage formation was investigated by gross inspection and histological examination. The constructs were then implanted subcutaneously into a nude mouse. Specimens were harvested and analyzed 4 weeks after implantation.

Results

The results showed that cartilaginous tissue formed and PLGA absorbed during in vitro incubation. Histological analysis showed engineered cartilage consisted of evenly spaced lacunae embedded in a matrix rich in proteoglycans, and kept the initial shape of the nasal alar. Based on this “MPC sheet combining polymer strategy,” implantable nasal alar could be successfully regenerated.

Conclusion

This strategy has the advantage of high cell transplantation efficiency and great potential for clinical application.

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 This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of P.R. China (30770542) and The Education Department of Shaanxi Province (07JK415).

PII: S0278-2391(08)01392-X

doi:10.1016/j.joms.2008.08.009

Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
Volume 67, Issue 2 , Pages 257-264, February 2009