Establishing and studying of injectable hydrogel applied to tissue engineered epiphyseal cartilage

Objective To establish injectable hydrogel applied to tissue engineered epiphyseal cartilage. Methods CACECM from calf was established and combined with calcium alginate, the content of DNA and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) were measured. Growth plate chondrocytes were collected from New Zealand rabbits at the age of 2 weeks, in vitro amplified, and inoculated into CACECM to observe their histocompatibility and pathological change. The compound was injected to the backside subcutaneously. Specimens were collected 8 weeks later and analyzed by physics and histology. Results Chondrocytes in the cultured tissues behaved good functions of growth and secretion, and showed good physical characters. Conclusion It is a promising way of combinig CACECM and calcium alginate as biomaterial for injectable hydrogel applied to tissue engineered epiphyseal cartilage.