Out-licensing

A tissue-engineered cartilage derived from a cellular composite made from a biodegradable, biocompatible polymeric nanofibrous matrix

Available for licensing and commercial development is a tissue-engineered cartilage derived from a cellular composite made from a biodegradable, biocompatible polymeric nanofibrous matrix having dispersed chondrocytes or adult mesenchymal stem cells.  More particularly, tissue-engineered cartilage can be prepared where the cartilage has a biodegradable and biocompatible nanofibrous polymer matrix prepared by electrospinning and a plurality of chondrocytes or mesenchymal stem cells dispersed in the pores of the matrix.  The tissue-engineered cartilage possesses compressive strength properties similar to natural cartilage. 

The electrospinning process is a simple, economical means to produce biomaterial matrices or scaffolds of ultra-fine fibers derived from a variety of biodegradable polymers (Li WJ, et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2002; 60:613-21).  Nanofibrous scaffolds (NFSs) formed by electrospinning, by virtue of structural similarity to natural extracellular matrix (ECM), may represent promising structures for tissue engineering applications.  Electrospun three-dimensional NFSs are characterized by high porosity with a wide distribution of pore diameter, high-surface area to volume ratio and morphological similarities to natural collagen fibrils (Li WJ, et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2002; 60:613-21).  These physical characteristics promote favorable biological responses of seeded cells in vitro and in vivo, including enhanced cell attachment, proliferation, maintenance of the chondrocytic phenotype (Li WJ, et al. J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 2003; 67A: 1105-14), and support of chondrogenic differentiation (Li WJ, et al. Biomaterials 2005; 26:599-609) as well as other connective tissue linage differentiation (Li WJ, et al. Biomaterials 2005; 26:5158-5166).  The invention based on cell-nanofiber composite represents a candidate engineered tissue for cell-based approaches to cartilage repair.  

Application:

Cartilage repair and methods for making tissue-engineered cartilage.

 

Development Status:

Electrospinning method is fully developed and cartilage has been synthesized.

 

Publications: The invention is further described in:

1. W-J Li et al.  Engineering controllable anisotropy in electrospun biodegradable nanofibrous scaffolds for musculoskeletal tissue engineering.  J Biomech. 2007;40(8):1686-1693.  [PubMed abs]
2. W-J Li et al.  Fabrication and characterization of six electrospun poly(alpha-hydroxy ester)-based fibrous scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.  Acta Biomater. 2006 Jul;2(4):377-385.  [PubMed abs]
3. CK Kuo et al.  Cartilage tissue engineering: its potential and uses.  Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2006 Jan;18(1):64-73. Review.  [PubMed abs]
4. W-J Li et al.  Multilineage differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells in a three-dimensional nanofibrous scaffold.  Biomaterials. 2005 Sep;26(25):5158-5166.  [PubMed abs]

PCT Application No. PCT/US2006/0237477 filed 15 Jun 2006, claiming priority to 15 Jun 2005 (HHS Reference No. E-116-2005/0-PCT-02)

U.S. Patent Application filed 14 Dec 2007 (HHS Reference No. E-116-2005/0-US-03)

 

Inventors:

Wan-Ju Li and Rocky Tuan (NIAMS)

 

 

 

Licensees Sought:

Available for exclusive or non-exclusive licensing.