Tissue Engineering

Extracel-X™ has proven effective for a variety of tissue-engineering applications, facilitating studies in the repair of cartilage3, bone4, and vocal folds5. Delivered by injection or implantation, it can be used in multiple formats, including hydrogels3, lyophilized hydrogel sponges4, dried hydrogel films5, electrospun fibers6, and centrifugally cast tubes7. Extracel-X™ is naturally degraded by endogenous hyaluronidases and collagenases and persists in vivo from four to eight weeks, depending upon the stability of the format chosen1,2,3,4. Easy, fluorescent labeling offers yet another Extracel-X™ advantage.

The Extracel-X™ Hydrogel Kit contains Glycosil™ (thiol-modified hyaluronan, HA), Gelin-S™ (thiol-modified denatured collagen), and Extralink™ (thiol-reactive crosslinking agent). It gels at temperatures from ambient to 37°C at physiological pH, with no low-temperature or low-pH steps in its preparation. The researcher has complete control over gelation time (as short as twenty minutes or as long as several hours), hydrogel stiffness, and hydrogel composition. Extracel-X™ is tested for bacteria growth, lactate dehydrogenase-elevating virus (LDEV), and endotoxins.

Interested in moving your research to 3D cell culture or tissue engineering? Tissue Growth Technologies DynaGen™ bioreactor series mimics the in vivo mechanical environment in order to condition and stimulate developing cells and tissues. Click here to learn more.

References

  1. X. Z. Shu, S. Ahmad, Y. Liu, and G. D. Prestwich, “Synthesis and Evaluation of Injectable, In Situ Crosslinkable Synthetic Extracellular Matrices (sECMs) for Tissue Engineering,” J. Biomed Mater. Res. A, 79A(4), 901-912 (2006).
  2. X. Z. Shu, Y. Liu, F. Palumbo, Y. Luo, and G. D. Prestwich, “In Situ Crosslinkable Glycosaminoglycan Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering,” Biomaterials, 25, 1339-1348 (2004).
  3. Y. Liu, X. Z. Shu, G. D. Prestwich, “Osteochondral defect repair with autologous bone marrow derived MSC cells in an injectable in situ crosslinked synthetic extracellular matrix,” Tissue Engineering, epub October (2006)
  4. Y. Liu, S. Ahmad, X. Z. Shu, R. K. Sanders, S. A. Kopesec, G. D. Prestwich, “Accelerated repair of cortical bone defects using a synthetic extracellular matrix to deliver human demineralized bone matrix,” J Orthop Res, 24(7), 1454-1462 (2006).
  5. S. Duflo, S. L. Thibeault, W. Li, X. Z. Shu, G. D. Prestwich, “Vocal fold tissue repair in vivo using a synthetic extracellular matrix,” Tissue Engineering, 12(8), 2171-2180 (2006).
  6. Y. Ji, K. Ghosh, X. Z. Shu, B. Li., J. C. Sokolov, G. D. Prestwich, R.A.F. Clark, M. H. Rafailovich, “Electrospun three-dimensional hyaluronic acid nanofibrous scaffolds,” Biomaterials, 27, 3782-92 (2006).
  7. V. Mironov, V. Kasyanov, X. Z. Shu, C. Eisenberg, L. Eisenberg, S. Gonda, T. Trusk, R. R. Markwald, G. D. Prestwich, “Fabrication of tubular tissue constructs by centrifugal casting of cells suspended in an in situ crosslinkable hyaluronan-gelatin hydrogel,” Biomaterials, 26, 7628-7625 (2005).