3D Printed Chondrogenic Functionalized PGS Bioactive Scaffold for Cartilage Regeneration

Abstract Tissue engineering is emerging as a promising approach for cartilage regeneration and repair. Endowing scaffolds with cartilaginous bioactivity to obtain bionic microenvironment and regulating the matching of scaffold degradation and regeneration play a crucial role in cartilage regeneration. Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) is a representative thermosetting bioelastomer known for its elasticity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility and is widely used in tissue engineering. However, the modification and drug loading of the PGS scaffold is still a key challenge due to its high temperature curing conditions and limited reactive groups, which seriously hinders its further functional application. Here, a simple versatile new strategy of super swelling‐absorption and cross‐linked networks locking is presented to successfully create the 3D printed PGS‐CS/Gel scaffold for the first time based on FDA‐approved PGS, gelatin (Gel) and chondroitin sulfate (CS). The PGS‐CS/Gel scaffold exhibits the desirable synergistic properties of well‐organized hierarchical structures, excellent elasticity, improved hydrophilicity, and cartilaginous bioactivity, which can promote the adhesion, proliferation, and migration of chondrocytes. Importantly, the rate of cartilage regeneration can be well‐matched with degradation of PGS‐CS/Gel scaffold, and achieve uniform and mature cartilage tissue without scaffold residual. The bioactive scaffold can successfully repair cartilage in a rabbit trochlear groove defect model indicating a promising prospect of clinical transformation.