Sharif Digital Repository

In the present study, alginate/cartilage extracellular matrix (ECM)-based injectable hydrogel was developed incorporated with silk fibroin nanofibers (SFN) for cartilage tissue engineering. The in situ forming hydrogels were composed of different ionic crosslinked alginate concentrations with 1% w/v enzymatically crosslinked phenolized cartilage ECM, resulting in an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN). The response surface methodology (RSM) approach was applied to optimize IPN hydrogel's mechanical properties by varying alginate and SFN concentrations. The results demonstrated that upon increasing the alginate concentration, the compression modulus improved. The SFN concentration was... 

Cartilage is an avascular tissue with limited self-repair ability. Since the methods for treatment of cartilage defects have not been effective, new therapies based on tissue engineering are considered over the recent years. In this study, human cartilage tissue was decellularized and porous injectable microcarriers (MCs) composed of acellular extracellular matrix (ECM) of cartilage tissue and chitosan (CS), with different ECM weight ratios, were fabricated by electrospraying technique to be used in the treatment of articular cartilage defects. Various properties of ECM/CS MCs such as microstructure, mechanical strength, water uptake behaviour, and biodegradability rate were investigated....