Journal article
FLASH: Fluorescently LAbelled Sensitive Hydrogel to monitor bioscaffolds degradation during neocartilage generation
Carmine Onofrillo, Serena Duchi, Sam Francis, Cathal D O'Connell, Lilith M Caballero Aguilar, Stephanie Doyle, Zhilian Yue, Gordon G Wallace, Peter F Choong, Claudia Di Bella
BIOMATERIALS | ELSEVIER SCI LTD | Published : 2021
Abstract
Regenerative therapies based on photocrosslinkable hydrogels and stem cells are of growing interest in the field of cartilage repair. Cell-mediated degradation is critical for the successful clinical translation of implanted hydrogels. However, characterising cell-mediated degradation, while simultaneously monitoring the deposition of a distinct new matrix, remains a major challenge. In this study we generated a Fluorescently LAbelled Sensitive Hydrogel (FLASH) to correlate the degradation of a hydrogel bioscaffold with neocartilage formation. Gelatine Methacryloyl (GelMA) was covalently bound to the FITC fluorophore to generate FLASH and bioscaffolds were produced by casting different conce..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by Foundation for Surgery Senior Lecturer Fellowship (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons IMIS)
Awarded by Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence Scheme
Awarded by Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) Research Endowment Fund
Awarded by Viertel Clinical Investigator Awards
Awarded by AOA research foundation limited grant
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by (1) Melbourne medical School -Early and Mid-Career Seed Grant Scheme, (2) The Foundation for Surgery Senior Lecturer Fellowship (Royal Australasian College of Surgeons IMIS N 164037), (3) The Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence Scheme (Project Number CE 140100012), (4) Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) Research Endowment Fund (90264), (5) AVANT doctor in training research grant and (6) the Victorian Medical Research Acceleration Fund. Equipment Grant form MTP Connect is gratefully acknowledged, (7) the Viertel Clinical Investigator Awards (VIERCI2018003), (8) the AOA research foundation limited grant (PG258). The authors would like to thank the Australian National Nanofabrication Facility -TRICEP. Confocal Microscopy usage were performed at the Biological Optical Microscopy Platform, The University of Melbourne (www.microscopy.unimelb.edu.au).Imaging assistance for graphical abstract was kindly provided by Maria Pia Cumani (DIBINEM Department University of Bologna, Rizzoli Orthopaedic Institute, Bologna, Italy). Technical and administrative assistance was performed by Cheryl Augustine (Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne). We would like to acknowledge James Collins (RMIT University, Melbourne) for his significant contribution in the conceptualization phase of this work. The authors are grateful to Anna Defterios and Amanda Rixon (Experimental and Medical Surgical Unit of St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne) for their work during the in vivo animal experimentation.