Abstract

Articular cartilage dysfunctions are major cause of pain and disability, and lead to serious health complications. Cell based therapies are proposed as treatment methods for cartilage regeneration. In this study, we proposed polyurethane/poly(L-lactide-co-D, L-lactide) (PU/PLDL)-based electrospun nonwovens as carriers for the delivery of human adipose derived stromal stem cells (hASCs). We found that 6:4 and 8:2 PU/PLDL initially enhance proliferative rate of hASCs, shorten their population doubling time, promote creation of functional chondrogenic nodules during chondrogenic differentiation, improve the collagen-2-to-collagen-1 proteins ratio and upregulate the expression of collagen-2 and aggrecan genes.