Poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-bilayered scaffolds with the same porosity or different ones on the two layers were fabricated, and the porosity effect on in vivo repairing of the osteochondral defect was examined in a comparative way for the first time. The constructs of scaffolds and bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were implanted into pre-created osteochondral defects in the femoral condyle of New Zealand white rabbits. After 12 weeks, all experimental groups exhibited good cartilage repairing according to macroscopic appearance, cross-section view, haematoxylin and eosin staining, toluidine blue staining, immunohistochemical staining and real-time polymerase chain reaction of characteristic genes. The group of 92% porosity in the cartilage layer and 77% porosity in the bone layer resulted in the best efficacy, which was understood by more biomechanical mimicking of the natural cartilage and subchondral bone. This study illustrates unambiguously that cartilage tissue engineering allows for a wide range of scaffold porosity, yet some porosity group is optimal. It is also revealed that the biomechanical matching with the natural composite tissue should be taken into consideration in the design of practical biomaterials, which is especially important for porosities of a multi-compartment scaffold concerning connected tissues.
Keywords: PLGA; bilayered scaffold; cartilage tissue engineering; mesenchymal stem cell; osteochondral defect; porosity.