In vitro repair model of focal articular cartilage defects in humans

Abstract

Articular cartilage lesions, which do not affect the integrity of subchondral bone, are not able to be repaired spontaneously, thus inducing cartilage degeneration and developing an arthrosic process. To avoid the need for prosthetic replacement, different cell treatments were developed with the aim of generating a repaired tissue with structure, biochemistry composition, and functional behavior equal or similar to those of natural articular cartilage. The following protocols describe the methods for harvesting articular cartilage explants both from pig and human specimens and isolating and culturing pig chondrocytes. Moreover, the methodology for an in vitro model of xenoimplant of pig chondrocytes in focal defects of human articular cartilage is described. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.