Engineering Functional Cartilage Grafts

Abstract

Articular cartilage is the specialized connective tissue that covers diarthrodial joints (e.g., hip, knee, and shoulder) and serves a load-bearing and lubrication function. As the tissue is avascular, it exhibits a poor healing capacity when injured. Joint arthroplasty, comprised of metal and plastic prostheses, has a limited lifespan after implantation and are ideally reserved for cases of significant traumatic injury and pervasive arthritis. As such, there have been significant efforts to develop cell-based strategies for cartilage repair. Accordingly, there is great anticipation regarding the role that stem cells can serve as a cell source for generating functional articular cartilage grafts. There is a need for both the use of animal cells and models as well as parallel development using human cells to successfully translate these strategies to the clinic.