Engineering Interpenetrating Polymer Networks of Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl Acrylate) as Ex Vivo Platforms for Articular Cartilage Regeneration

A hydrogel based on interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) has been designed to act as a platform in an articular cartilage bioreactor for the ex vivo test of scaffolds, simulating the host tissue. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl acrylate) (PHEA) has been mechanically reinforced by its interpenetration with poly(ethyl acrylate). The resulting IPNs are phase separated systems with a porosity that increases with the amount of PHEA. Compression Young s modulus decreases and permeability increases when increasing the PHEA content in the samples, being the IPN with a 79% of PHEA the best candidate to mimic articular cartilage.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the MAT2013-46467-C4-1-R and MAT2013-46467-C4-3-R projects (including the FEDER financial support), the FPU AP2010/2557 and the FPI BES-2011-046144 PhD grants, and the CIBER-BBN. CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&I Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program. CIBER Actions are financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund. The translation of this paper was funded by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.Poveda Reyes, S.; Gamboa Martinez, TC.; Manzano, S.; Doweidar, MH.; Gómez Ribelles, JL.; Ochoa Garrido, I.; Gallego Ferrer, G. (2015). Engineering Interpenetrating Polymer Networks of Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl Acrylate) as Ex Vivo Platforms for Articular Cartilage Regeneration. International Journal of Polymeric Materials and Polymeric Biomaterials. 64(14):745-754. doi:10.1080/00914037.2014.1002132S745754641