Gellan gum-based hydrogels as injectable materials for cartilage tissue engineering

Recently, new tissue engineering approaches are being developed as an alternative to traditional treatments for cartilage repair. Materials in the form of hydrogels are particularly attractive as owing to their biocompatibility, degradability, and ability to homogeneously mix with stem cells and bioactive molecules. Hydrogels can be injectable, thus to easily fill defects with different shapes, thus repairing the articular cartilage in a minimally invasive way. This manuscript reports the analysis of gellan gum-based hydrogels as injectable materials for the in situ delivery of chondrocytes for the treatment of cartilage defects. Gellan gum and methacrylated gellan gum were prepared and analyzed through rheometry, to assess their suitability for being injected with chondrocytes. Then, one selected formulation was further characterized in terms of mechanical properties, analyzing the influence of light exposure. Finally, preliminary biological tests with chondrocytes were performed to analyze the interaction with the material.