Cartilage is a tissue that protects the bones by providing shock absorption and facilitating smooth movement of the joints. Unfortunately, due to its limited intrinsic healing capacity, stem cell transplantation is a promising therapeutic approach to address inflammation and cartilage damage, as well as promote cartilage regeneration. However, a major limitation of this technique is the rapid disappearance of the transplanted stem cells from the smooth surface of the cartilage and the fluidic environment around the cartilage, leading to less effective treatment results. Recently, a joint team of researchers from POSTECH, Dongguk University Medical Center, and Nature Gluetech in Korea have developed a novel treatment strategy for damaged cartilage, which involves the use of an immiscible viscous liquid that is capable of facilitating stem cell transplantation into the affected cells. tissue using adhesive protein derived from mussels and hyaluronic acid.
The joint team was led by Professor Hyung Joon Cha (Department of Chemical Engineering and Convergence School of Science and Technology), Ph.D. candidate Seong-Woo Maeng, Dr. Tae Yoon Park and Professor Kye Il Joo (currently at Ewha Womans University) from the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH, Professor Gun-Il Im and Dr. Ji-Yun Ko from Dongguk Medical University Center, and Dr. Seongmin Ha of Nature Gluetech Co., Ltd. The research, supported by the Korea Health Technology Research and Development Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Korea under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, was published in the Chemical Engineering Magazine.
The researchers developed a new bioadhesive material in the form of a viscous, immiscible liquid phase to overcome the limitations of the conventional treatment strategy. This was achieved by combining mussel-derived adhesion proteins with high-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid, which is oppositely charged and therefore facilitates electrostatic interactions between them. By engineering a highly viscous liquid bioadhesive that does not disintegrate or swell in water, the team formulated an adhesive material that can safely encapsulate stem cells and facilitate their firm attachment to the transplant site.
In addition, the team demonstrated that stem cells encapsulated within the liquid bioadhesive were retained in situ when transplanted into defective cartilage in a rabbit model evaluation. Prolonged retention of transplanted stem cells within damaged cartilage facilitated cartilage regeneration and enhanced the therapeutic effects of stem cell transplantation. An additional benefit of the liquid adhesive developed by the team includes a natural adhesive that does not require any additional physical or chemical processes.
Professor Hyung Joon Cha, who led the research, stated, “The therapeutic effects of stem cells can be significantly enhanced by using mussel adhesion protein, an original biomaterial developed in Korea.” He also noted that “because the liquid bioadhesive can be formulated for injection, it has the potential to be an effective treatment for damaged cartilage when used in stem cell transplantation through an arthroscope, similar to an endoscope.”
The material technology for the mussel adhesion protein has been transferred to Nature Gluetech Co., Ltd. and a clinical study of the stem cell adhesive called CartiFix, which was developed for the treatment of arthritis in this research, is expected to begin soon. .
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