Engineering of human tracheal tissue with collagen-enforced poly-lactic-glycolic acid non-woven mesh: A preliminary study in nude mice

The purpose of the current study is to fabricate tissue engineered trachea with poly-lactic-glycolic acid (PLGA) non-woven mesh enforced by collagen type I. PLGA fibres coated with collagen solution were put together and fabricated into the shape of a human trachea, after drying and cross-linking treatment, a non-woven mesh with “C” shape formed. Chondrocytes from sheep nasal septum cartilage were expanded in vitro and seeded into PLGA/collagen non-woven mesh in the density of 5.0 × 107 mL−1. After 5 days of in vitro incubation, six Cell-PLGA/collagen composites were implanted subcutaneously into the back of 6 nude mice to prefabricate a tissue engineering trachea. Eight weeks later, the cartilage formation was observed by gross inspection and histological examination. Cartilage like tissue in the shape of the initial PLGA/collagen scaffold had been regenerated successfully without obvious inflammatory response. The tissue engineered trachea cartilage consisted of evenly spaced lacunae embedded in matrix stained red with safranin-O staining. The amount of GAGs in tissue engineered trachea cartilage reached 71.42% of normal value in native cartilage. This study demonstrated that collagen-enforced PLGA non-woven mesh facilitated the adhesion and proliferation of chondrocytes, it also owned adequate mechanical strength to serve as an ideal scaffold for trachea tissue engineering without internal support.