Innovative Biomimetic Collagen-based Scaffolds for Enhanced and Longer Lasting Cartilage Repair

This thesis has led to the development of a novel highly porous collagen-based scaffold for enhanced and longer lasting cartilage repair, by incorporating type II collagen (CII) and hyaluronic acid (HyA) within a type I collagen (CI) framework. This newly developed CI/II-HyA scaffold biomaterial has demonstrated to effectively regenerate high-quality cartilage-like tissue in vitro with promise to provide stable and long-term performance in vivo for cartilage repair. Furthermore, this platform was successfully adapted to deliver gene therapy, specifically involving the development of an innovative microRNA-activated scaffold which offers greater control of the mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) chondrogenic processes, and possibly enhanced cartilage repair in the clinic. These scaffold systems show good promise for simple and effective “off the shelf” application in patients for cartilage repair.