Jilin University to Transfer Two Patents for Cartilage Repair Technologies at RMB 100,000

Recently, Jilin University released a public notice on patent transfer, proposing to“An Injectable Gel Loaded with Modified Silica Nanoparticles and Its Preparation Method”Transfer of Two Patents toJilin Province Guoda Bioengineering Co., Ltd.. This transaction was conducted through a listed listing method, with the transfer price beingRMB 100,000, the inventor of this patent isZhang Mei and Her Team。

This transaction focuses on articular cartilage repair and diabetic bone defect repair, addressing pain points such as inadequate adaptability of traditional repair materials and slow bone healing in diabetes through innovative features like biomimetic design and injectable self-healing capabilities.

Articular cartilage covers the surfaces of articulating bones and faces the joint cavity. Its extremely smooth surface facilitates seamless movement between bones. Articular cartilage not only distributes forces evenly and expands the weight-bearing area to maximize mechanical load tolerance, but also protects the joint from injury. Furthermore, articular cartilage possesses excellent elasticity, enabling it to absorb and buffer stress, thereby reducing impact on the joint. This characteristic allows articular cartilage to maintain normal function throughout a person’s life without being easily damaged.

However, under metabolic disorder conditions such as diabetes, the healing process of fractures or bone defects is severely impaired. Diabetes interferes with bone healing through multiple mechanisms, including reduced osteogenic differentiation, decreased angiogenesis, and exacerbated inflammatory responses. Particularly in patients with diabetes,Elevated Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Levelsis a significant characteristic of impaired bone healing. Excessive ROS production leads to oxidative stress, disruption of bone homeostasis, and subsequent pathological conditions; studies have shown thatUpregulation of ROSBone healing can be delayed by inhibiting the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) and promoting RANKL-mediated osteoclast activation.

Furthermore, in cases of synovial pathology such as rheumatoid arthritis, abnormal synovial fluid secretion can impair joint function and compromise the nutritional supply to articular cartilage. Once articular cartilage is damaged, its capacity to absorb mechanical stress diminishes, potentially leading to further joint injury and degeneration.

Currently, cartilage repair research is primarily focused onDevelopment of biomaterials capable of replacing articular cartilage or stimulating new tissue regeneration. An ideal cartilage substitute should mimic the structure, mechanical properties, and composition of cartilage. In recent years,Polymer HydrogelIt has garnered widespread attention due to its potential as a biomaterial for soft tissue repair and even regeneration. Narrowing the performance gap between polymeric hydrogels and natural soft tissues, and seeking polymeric hydrogel materials that match the properties of biological soft tissues to achieve the goal of using hydrogels to replace damaged biological soft tissues, is one of the key issues in current polymeric hydrogel research.

Nevertheless, traditional polymeric hydrogel materials still suffer from certain inherent performance limitations that hinder their widespread application in the biomedical field. These challenges include improving the mechanical strength of hydrogels, enhancing their cell affinity, reducing friction and wear, and addressing the issue of integration with native tissues after implantation.

In light of this, the team proposedA Method for Preparing an Injectable Gel Loaded with Modified Silica Nanoparticles, aiming to address the problems existing in the aforementioned background technology, particularly targeting multidimensional technical challenges in the field of diabetic bone defect repair, such as in vivo microenvironment regulation, material delivery, and synergistic optimization of performance. This invention utilizes hydrogels with excellent biocompatibility, biodegradability, and hydrophilicity as base materials, and combines them with the unique properties of mesoporous bioactive glass nanoparticles to serve as carriers for drug delivery. Meanwhile, it leverages the effects of ions such as Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺, and Zn²⁺ to inhibit osteoclast differentiation and promote osteogenesis, thereby effectively addressing the challenges of bone defect repair in complex pathological microenvironments.

In clinical practice, bone and articular cartilage often suffer from composite injuries due to trauma, degenerative diseases, or metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Particularly in patients with diabetes, persistent oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, and microvascular dysfunction induced by hyperglycemia significantly impair the regenerative capacity of bone and cartilage, leading to suboptimal outcomes or even failure of traditional repair strategies. Most current biomaterials focus on the replacement of a single tissue type (either bone or cartilage alone), making them ill-suited to address the osteochondral interface—a structurally and functionally highly heterogeneous complex region—and lacking the ability to actively modulate pathological microenvironments associated with conditions like diabetes.

To address the aforementioned challenges, the team proposed a set ofSynergistic and Complementary Dual-Module Regeneration Strategy, leveraging two invention patents jointlyEstablish an intelligent repair platform for refractory joint defects.

“An Injectable Gel Loaded with Modified Silica Nanoparticles and Its Preparation Method”Focused on bone defect repair, especially suitable forHigh Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) Microenvironment in DiabetesThis technology has developed aInjectable Hydrogels, it is formed by cross-linking aldehyde-functionalized sodium hyaluronate with hydrazide-modified carboxymethyl chitosan via dynamic acylhydrazone bonds, possessing self-healing properties and in situ forming capability, enabling minimally invasive filling of irregular bone cavities.

The key innovation of this technology lies in its loadedDendritic Mesoporous Silica NanoparticlesThis carrier sequentially incorporates calcium ions (Ca²⁺), cerium ions (Ce³⁺), and glutathione (GSH). Among these, Ce³⁺ can mimic the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), continuously scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and promoting angiogenesis; GSH is rapidly released in the mildly acidic environment commonly found in diabetic bone defects, providing robust antioxidant protection; while Ca²⁺ directly promotes osteogenic differentiation. The synergistic action of these three components achieves a "quadripartite" microenvironment remodeling encompassing anti-inflammation, antioxidation, osteogenesis promotion, and angiogenesis promotion, thereby fundamentally improving the impairment of bone healing in diabetes.

“A Three-Layer Structured Composite Hydrogel Scaffold Material, Its Preparation Method, and Applications”Focusing on the functional regeneration of articular cartilage. This technologyA Three-Layer Hydrogel Scaffold with Anatomical Hierarchical Correspondence Constructed via a Biomimetic Approach: The bottom layer consists of a porous polylactic acid/silanized nano-hydroxyapatite (PLA/nHA) structure that mimics the calcified cartilage layer, providing not only mechanical support but also enabling effective integration with host bone; the middle layer is composed of methacrylated hyaluronic acid and polyethylene glycol diacrylate (GMA-HA/PEGDA), rich in natural cartilage matrix components, which facilitates chondrocyte adhesion, proliferation, and matrix secretion; the surface layer incorporates a copolymer network of 2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (MPC) and PEGDA to form a strongly hydrated lubricating interface with an extremely low coefficient of friction, effectively reducing wear during joint motion and protecting the opposing cartilage. This design integrates, for the first time within a single scaffold,Mechanical Support, Bioactivity, and SuperlubricityThree Major Functions Precisely Aligned with the Structural and Functional Requirements of Natural Articular Cartilage.

Although the two technologies are independent of each other, they possess in clinical applicationsHigh Synergy: The injectable hydrogel serves as a “bone-phase module,” capable of flexibly filling deep bone defects and modulating the local microenvironment; the three-layer scaffold acts as a “cartilage-phase module,” covering the surface to reconstruct a functional articular surface. Together, they establish an integrated osteochondral regeneration system, particularly suitable for complex conditions such as diabetic foot, traumatic osteochondral defects of the knee/ankle joints, or osteoarthritis accompanied by metabolic disorders. This approach not only overcomes the limitations of traditional materials characterized by “passive filling and inability to respond to pathological signals,” but also achieves a leap from “structural replacement” to “functional regeneration” through the deep integration of material intelligence and tissue biomimicry.

Currently, there is still a lack of efficient, integrated regenerative solutions for the repair of osteochondral defects, particularly in complex cases complicated by metabolic disorders such as diabetes, although progress has been made in several related areas by both academia and industry.

The current mainstream market remains dominated by single-tissue repair: Vericel’s MACI®Focuses on autologous chondrocyte transplantation, which is only applicable to isolated cartilage injuries;StrykerArtificial bone or allogeneic bone materials provided by the company can be used for filling bone defects, but they do not have the function of cartilage regeneration or joint lubrication.

At the level of academic research,Integrated bone-cartilage repair has become a hotspot in the field of tissue engineering. For example,MIT and Harvard TeamDeveloped a growth factor gradient hydrogel scaffold;Ouyang Hongwei's Team at Zhejiang UniversityDevelop bionic "joint paint" for rapid resurfacing of damaged joint surfaces;Seoul National University, South KoreaThis enables the introduction of MPC to achieve an ultra-low friction surface layer.

For diabetic bone healing impairment,UCLAInstitutions have attempted to use CeO₂ nanozymes or doped bioactive glass for ROS scavenging, demonstrating osteogenic effects in animal models; however, these approaches have not yet been integrated with cartilage repair modules and lack intelligent responsive release mechanisms.

In terms of lubricating materials,Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands and ETH Zurich in SwitzerlandStudies have shown that zwitterionic polymers (such as MPC) can significantly reduce the friction coefficient of hydrogels, approaching the levels found in natural joints. However, these materials often suffer from insufficient mechanical strength and fail to achieve effective integration with the underlying bone tissue.

Overall, the field is evolving from single-tissue replacement toward multi-tissue synergistic regeneration, while the design of smart responsive materials targeting specific pathological conditions (such as diabetes) has become a key direction for enhancing repair efficacy.