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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Stem Cell Research
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2024.1489901

Genipin cross-linked gelatin hydrogel for encapsulating Wharton Jelly mesenchymal stem cell and basic fibroblast growth factor delivery in vocal fold regeneration Short Title Gel for cell delivery in vocal fold regeneration Authors

Provisionally accepted
Ng Wan Chiew Ng Wan Chiew 1Marina Mat Baki Marina Mat Baki 1,2Yogeswaran Lokanathan Yogeswaran Lokanathan 3Mohd Fauzi MH Busra Mohd Fauzi MH Busra 3Mawaddah Azman Mawaddah Azman 1,2*
  • 1 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine,, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
  • 2 Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC), Cheras, Malaysia
  • 3 Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Medicine,, National University of Malaysia, Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Approaches to regenerate vocal fold in glottic insufficiency remains to be a focus for exploration. This is attributed to the applications of cells or biological molecules alone result in fast degradation and inadequate for regeneration. Development of an injectable hydrogel for glottic insufficiency is challenging, as it needs to be non-cytotoxic, elastic yet possess good strength and easy to fabricate. This gap prompts us to study the feasibility of our genipin(gn)-crosslinked gelatin (G) hydrogel in encapsulating Wharton's Jelly Mesenchymal Stem Cells (WJMSCs) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) WJMSCs with the aim to provide regeneration in glottic insufficiency.WJMSCs was encapsulated into two optimised formulations with the density of 2,000,000 cells/ml. The encapsulated cells were tested for its morphology, cell viability, proliferation and migration. Then, the incorporation of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was done into a final formulation and was tested for the cellular response and in vitro inflammation. 6G 0.4gn demonstrated better cell viability after in vitro culturing for seven day. After incorporation of bFGF into cell-laden 6G 0.4gn, encapsulated WJMSCs showed to have improved viability and migration. The inflammatory profile of the hydrogel was imperceptible and was regarded as minimal or no pro-and antiinflammation. Altogether, we have first formulated 6G 0.4gn which is suitable to encapsulate WJMSCs and incorporation of bFGF. Current study fulfils the market need in vocal fold regeneration, by suggesting its rejuvenating potential in glottic insufficiency, yet this combined formulation should be studied further to justify its translation to clinical setting.

    Keywords: glottic insufficiency, vocal fold paresis/ paralysis, Regeneration, Hydrogel, Gelatin

    Received: 02 Sep 2024; Accepted: 20 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Chiew, Baki, Lokanathan, MH Busra and Azman. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mawaddah Azman, Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Center (UKMMC), Cheras, Malaysia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.