{"doi":"10.1002/jbm.a.38018","title":"Recapitulating Native‐Like Strain Distributions in a Tissue‐Engineered Enthesis by Creating Structural, Biochemical, and Mineral Gradients","abstract":"The incorporation of robust meniscus-to-bone interfaces into tissue-engineered menisci is critical for their clinical translation. Generating gradients in collagen fiber organization and mineral content for tissue-engineered entheses is essential for achieving native tissue-like mechanics; however, engineering such gradients remains challenging. This study presents a tissue-engineered enthesis model consisting of a fibrochondrocyte-seeded cylinder of type I collagen gel with trabecular bone plugs on both ends. Using a tri-chamber bioreactor, spatially controlled biochemical (e.g., TGF-β1 and glucose) and biomechanical stimuli were applied, generating native-like collagen fiber structure and mechanics within tissue-engineered enthesis constructs. Confocal elastography revealed a more uniform local strain distribution and reduced peak strain in the enthesis constructs cultured in a tri-chamber bioreactor compared to those in a single chamber bioreactor, likely attributed to the enhanced collagen fiber organization. To further improve the integration at the collagen-bone plug interface, we introduced partially demineralized bone plugs to the constructs. Partial demineralization improved the mechanical performance of enthesis constructs, decreasing peak strain by > 30% and strain gradients by 50%, while increasing toughness and strain at failure by 50% and 40%, respectively. Overall, these findings highlight the importance of zone-specific biochemical and biomechanical stimuli and biomimetic scaffold materials to improve tissue-engineered implants.","journal":"Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A","year":2025,"id":548869,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9497,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":432676,"name":"Alexander J. Boys","orcid":"0000-0002-6488-7005","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1443039,"name":"Roland Babmatee","orcid":null,"position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":274103,"name":"Lara A. Estroff","orcid":"0000-0002-7658-1265","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":339621,"name":"Lawrence J. Bonassar","orcid":"0000-0003-1094-6433","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":732500,"name":"Jong-Kil Kim","orcid":"0000-0001-5441-0484","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":42,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:54:03.053965Z","pmid":"41277704","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}