OICC Press Progress in Biomaterials 2194-0517 8 1 (March 2019) 2019 01 31 A silk fibroin/decellularized extract of Wharton’s jelly hydrogel intended for cartilage tissue engineering 10.1007/s40204-019-0108-7 EN Arefeh Basiri Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Mehdi Farokhi National Cell Bank of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, IR Mahmoud Azami Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Somayeh Ebrahimi-Barough Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Abdolreza Mohamadnia Department of Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Morteza Rashtbar Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Elham Hasanzadeh Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Narges Mahmoodi Sina Trauma and Surgery Reasearch Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Mohamadreza Baghaban Eslaminejad Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, IR Jafar Ai Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Sciences, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Journal Article 2019 01 31 Abstract A hybrid hydrogel was obtained from decellularized extract from Wharton’s jelly (DEWJ) and silk fibroin (SF) and characterized for cartilage tissue engineering. Wharton’s jelly was used due to its similarity with articular cartilage in extracellular matrix composition. Also, silk fibroin has good mechanical properties which make this construct appropriate for cartilage repair. Decellularization of Wharton’s jelly was verified by DAPI staining, DNA quantification, and PCR analysis. Then, the biochemical composition of DEWJ was determined by ELISA kits for total proteins, collagens, sulfated glycosaminoglycans (sGAG), and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1). After fabricating pure SF and SF/DEWJ hybrid hydrogels, their physical and mechanical properties were characterized by FESEM, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and rheological assays (amplitude and frequency sweeps). Furthermore, cell viability and proliferation were assessed by MTT assay. The results have shown that DEWJ in hybrid hydrogels enhances mechanical properties of the construct relative to pure SF hydrogels. Also, this extract at its 40% concentration in culture media and 20% or 40% concentrations in SF/DEWJ hybrid hydrogels significantly increases population of the cells compared to control and pure SF hydrogel after 7 days. In conclusion, this study proposes the potential of SF/DEWJ hybrid hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering applications.