Issue 3, 2018

Acoustically modulated biomechanical stimulation for human cartilage tissue engineering

Abstract

Bioacoustofluidics can be used to trap and levitate cells within a fluid channel, thereby facilitating scaffold-free tissue engineering in a 3D environment. In the present study, we have designed and characterised an acoustofluidic bioreactor platform, which applies acoustic forces to mechanically stimulate aggregates of human articular chondrocytes in long-term levitated culture. By varying the acoustic parameters (amplitude, frequency sweep, and sweep repetition rate), cells were stimulated by oscillatory fluid shear stresses, which were dynamically modulated at different sweep repetition rates (1–50 Hz). Furthermore, in combination with appropriate biochemical cues, the acoustic stimulation was tuned to engineer human cartilage constructs with structural and mechanical properties comparable to those of native human cartilage, as assessed by immunohistology and nano-indentation, respectively. The findings of this study demonstrate the capability of acoustofluidics to provide a tuneable biomechanical force for the culture and development of hyaline-like human cartilage constructs in vitro.

Graphical abstract: Acoustically modulated biomechanical stimulation for human cartilage tissue engineering

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Nov 2017
Accepted
20 Nov 2017
First published
04 Jan 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Lab Chip, 2018,18, 473-485

Acoustically modulated biomechanical stimulation for human cartilage tissue engineering

U. S. Jonnalagadda, M. Hill, W. Messaoudi, R. B. Cook, R. O. C. Oreffo, P. Glynne-Jones and R. S. Tare, Lab Chip, 2018, 18, 473 DOI: 10.1039/C7LC01195D

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