Cartilage Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Strategies

Abstract

Human adult articular cartilage is a unique avascular tissue which displays the ability to resist to repetitive compressive stress. However, this connective tissue exhibits slight capacity for intrinsic restoration and, then even injuries or lesions can lead to progressive damage and osteoarthritic joint deterioration. Therefore, the field of cartilage repair continues to expand, bridging the gap between palliative care and chondral defects reconstruction. Tissue engineering strategy, centered on three actors: cells, proteins and scaffolds, received a lot of attention in the aim to develop an articular cartilage regeneration process that will be efficient, simple, and based on global market, cost-effective. The current state of cartilage tissue engineering with respect to different cell-sources, growth factors and biomaterial scaffolds, as well as the strategies employed in the restoration and repair of damaged articular cartilage will be the focus of this book chapter.