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The coronoid process provides attachment to temporalis and masseter muscles, and thus plays an important role in mastication. Tendons connect muscles and bones, mediating the transmission of functional loads to bones. Thus, tendon-bone entheses govern mechanical stress in bones. The preferential orientation of biological apatite (BAp) crystallites, the main mineral component in bones, is an important index for bone quality and function, and is largely influenced by locally applied stress. In this study, we analyzed BAp orientation, Young's modulus, and bone mineral density (BMD) at different sites in the human coronoid process. No differences in BMD were found among the analyzed sites, but BAp crystal orientation was observed to differ. BAp crystallites showed a uni-directional orientation in the mesiodistal direction at the coronoid process apex, but were oriented in the direction vertical to the occlusal plane at other sites. Young's modulus tended to vary according to the BAp orientation. At the apex, a tendon form with characteristics different from those at other sites, including the presence of a fibrocartilaginous layer that may act as a stretching brake to control stress concentration, was observed. These findings suggest that the functional pressure of the temporalis muscle affects bone quality and strength., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The temporomandibular joint disk (TMJd) is an extremely dense and avascular fibrocartilaginous extracellular matrix (ECM) resulting in a limited regenerative capacity. The use of decellularized TMJd as a biocompatible scaffold to guide tissue regeneration is restricted by innate subcellular porosity of the ECM that hinders cellular infiltration and regenerative events. Incorporation of an artificial microporosity through laser micro-ablation (LMA) can alleviate these cell and diffusion based limitations. In this study, LMA was performed either before or after decellularization to assess to effect of surfactant treatment on porosity modification as well as the resultant mechanical and physical scaffold properties. Under convective flow or agitation schemes, pristine and laser ablated disks were decellularized using either low (0.1% w/v) or high (1% w/v) concentrations of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). Results show that lower concentrations of SDS minimized collagen degradation and tissue swelling while retaining its capacity to solubilize cellular content. Regardless of processing scheme, laser ablated channels incorporated after SDS treatment were relatively smaller and more uniform than those incorporated before SDS treatment, indicating an altered laser interaction with surfactant treated tissues. Smaller channels correlated with less disruption of native biomechanical properties indicating surfactant pre-treatment is an important consideration when using LMA to produce artificial porosity in ex vivo derived tissues. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1858-1868, 2018., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Meniscal tears in the avascular zone have a poor self-healing potential, however partial meniscectomy predisposes the knee for early osteoarthritis. Tissue engineering with mesenchymal stem cells and a hyaluronan collagen based scaffold is a promising approach to repair meniscal tears in the avascular zone. 4 mm longitudinal meniscal tears in the avascular zone of lateral menisci of New Zealand White Rabbits were performed. The defect was left empty, sutured with a 5-0 suture or filled with a hyaluronan/collagen composite matrix without cells, with platelet rich plasma or with autologous mesenchymal stem cells. Matrices with stem cells were in part precultured in chondrogenic medium for 14 days prior to the implantation. Menisci were harvested at 6 and 12 weeks. The developed repair tissue was analyzed macroscopically, histologically and biomechanically. Untreated defects, defects treated with suture alone, with cell-free or with platelet rich plasma seeded implants showed a muted fibrous healing response. The implantation of stem cell-matrix constructs initiated fibrocartilage-like repair tissue, with better integration and biomechanical properties in the precultured stem cell-matrix group. A hyaluronan-collagen based composite scaffold seeded with mesenchymal stem cells is more effective in the repair avascular meniscal tear with stable meniscus-like tissue and to restore the native meniscus., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., a Wiley Company.)