Biodegradable Gelatin Methacrylate Gel as a Potential Scaffold for Bone Tissue Engineering of Canine Adipose-Derived Stem Cells.

Therapeutic potential of adipose derived stem cells (ADSCs) has widely been explored for treatment of orthopedic ailments. Transplantation of cells encapsulated in a scaffold facilitates 3 dimensional modelling of the tissue for the cases where well-defined spatial distribution of cells is desired for implantation. Present study aims to encapsulate canine ADSCs (cADSCs) in biodegradable methacrylated gelatin gel (GelMA) scaffold followed by their osteogenic differentiation for fabrication of a three dimensional bone tissue construct. Different percentages (5, 10 and 20%) and different methacrylation levels of gel (GelMA_high and GelMA_low) were tested for degradation. Porosity of 10% GelMA was compared by SEM imaging. Gels with the fastest degradation rate (5% GelMA_high and GelMA_low) were chosen for cell encapsulation since degradation of scaffold is of prime importance when the gel is intended to be used for implantation. Finally, cADSCs encapsulated in 5% GelMA_low demonstrated best morphology and were differentiated osteogenically. We developed a modified protocol for isolation of RNA from cells encapsulated in GelMA. Osteogenic differentiation was affirmed by the presence of osteo-specific gene expression by reverse transcriptase PCR in addition to von Kossa staining of the construct. GelMA is an excellent biodegradable scaffold for encapsulation of cADSCs without altering their osteogenic potential. This osteo-induced cellular scaffold implant opens a new therapeutic horizon in the area of tissue engineering in orthopedics.