Cartilage Tissue Engineering: Recent Advances and Perspectives from Gene Regulation/Therapy

Abstract

Diseases in articular cartilages affect millions of people. Despite the relatively simple biochemical and cellular composition of articular cartilages, the self-repair ability of cartilage is limited. Successful cartilage tissue engineering requires intricately coordinated interactions between matrerials, cells, biological factors, and phycial/mechanical factors, and still faces a multitude of challenges. This article presents an overview of the cartilage biology, current treatments, recent advances in the materials, biological factors, and cells used in cartilage tissue engineering/regeneration, with strong emphasis on the perspectives of gene regulation (e.g., microRNA) and gene therapy. Successful cartilage engineering is dictated by intricate coordination of scaffolds, cells, biological signals, and physical/mechanical factors. In particular, gene therapy in combination with cell therapy offers a promising solution to cartilage repair. This article not only reviews the four pillars of cartilage engineering, but also focuses on the cartilage repair from the perspectives of gene therapy.