Articular cartilage has a limited capacity for spontaneous healing. Different collagen matrices are currently under investigation for cartilage tissue reapair. In general, these matrices should support cell attachment, growth and differentiation towards the desired phenotype for cartilage regeneration. The ideal scaffold has to mimic the ECM characteristics and should form a structure with similar physical properties as the desired tissue [1, 2]. Specific ECM components such as collagen and glycosaminoglycan [3], have been reported to play a major role as they regulate the expression of the chondrocytic phenotype and chondrogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. In addition to the matrix, it is well known that glycosylation patterns mediated matrix-cell interaction and signalling processes. In this context, chemical grafting of carbohydrates to collagen patches by thiol-ene photoclick reaction and preliminary biological evaluation will be presented.
[1] L. Cipolla, L. Russo, F Taraballi, C. Lupo, D Bini, L Gabrielli, A Capitoli, F Nicotra. Smart biomaterials: the contribution of glycoscience in Specialist Periodical Reports, SPR Carbohydrate Chemistry, 2012, Vol. 38, Chapter 17, 416-445. ISBN: 9781849734394.
[2] L Cipolla, L Russo, N Shaikh, F Nicotra Materials biofunctionalization for tissue re generation in POLYMERIC BIOMATERIALS III ED, Vol. I Polymers as Biomaterials CRC Press, 2013 ISBN 9781420094725.
[3] Lee JE, Kim KE, Kwon IC, Ahn HJ, Lee S-H, Cho H, et al. Biomaterials 2004, 25, 4163–73.
Acknowledgments:
We gratefully acknowledge Fondazione Cariplo, grant n° 2010-0378 and MIUR, under project PRIN 2010/L9SH3K. for financial support.
