A novel bovine serum albumin and sodium alginate hydrogel scaffold doped with hydroxyapatite nanowires for cartilage defects repair.

• A novel dual-network B-S-H hydrogel scaffold was prepared by simple protein gelatinization and ionic cross-linking method. • The hydrogel scaffold has no toxic chemical cross-linking agents. • HAPNWs added in B-S hydrogel scaffold not only improved the microstructure but also enhanced the mechanical properties. • The B-S-H hydrogel scaffold has good biocompatibility which can promote the hBMSCs proliferation and differentiation. • The B-S-H hydrogel scaffold can promote the integration of newly formed tissue with surrounding normal tissue. Cartilage tissue engineering has become the trend of cartilage defect repair owing to the engineered biomimetic tissue that can mimic the structural, biological and functional characteristics of natural cartilage. Biomaterials with high biocompatibility and regeneration capacity are expected to be used in cartilage tissue engineering. Herein, in this study, a dual-network bovine serum albumin/sodium alginate with hydroxyapatite nanowires composite (B-S-H) hydrogel scaffold has been prepared for cartilage repair. The obtained B-S-H hydrogel scaffold exhibits ideal physical properties, such as excellent mechanical strength, high porosity and swelling ratio, as well as the excellent biological activity to promote the human bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) proliferation and differentiation. The in vivo study further shows that the B-S -H hydrogel scaffold can obviously promote the generation of new cartilage that integrates well with surrounding tissues and is similar to adjacent cartilage in terms of thickness. It is considered that the B-S-H hydrogel scaffold has great potential in the application of cartilage defects repair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]