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Review
. 2014 Apr 18;5(2):80-8.
doi: 10.5312/wjo.v5.i2.80.

New perspectives for articular cartilage repair treatment through tissue engineering: A contemporary review

Giuseppe Musumeci  1 , Paola Castrogiovanni  1 , Rosalia Leonardi  1 , Francesca Maria Trovato  1 , Marta Anna Szychlinska  1 , Angelo Di Giunta  1 , Carla Loreto  1 , Sergio Castorina  1
Affiliations
Review

New perspectives for articular cartilage repair treatment through tissue engineering: A contemporary review

Giuseppe Musumeci et al. World J Orthop. .

Abstract

In this paper review we describe benefits and disadvantages of the established methods of cartilage regeneration that seem to have a better long-term effectiveness. We illustrated the anatomical aspect of the knee joint cartilage, the current state of cartilage tissue engineering, through mesenchymal stem cells and biomaterials, and in conclusion we provide a short overview on the rehabilitation after articular cartilage repair procedures. Adult articular cartilage has low capacity to repair itself, and thus even minor injuries may lead to progressive damage and osteoarthritic joint degeneration, resulting in significant pain and disability. Numerous efforts have been made to develop tissue-engineered grafts or patches to repair focal chondral and osteochondral defects, and to date several researchers aim to implement clinical application of cell-based therapies for cartilage repair. A literature review was conducted on PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar using appropriate keywords, examining the current literature on the well-known tissue engineering methods for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

Keywords: Cartilage; Mesenchymal stem cells; Osteoarthritis; Repair; Scaffolds; Tissue engineering.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Macroscopic signs of osteoarthritis knee hyaline cartilage. A: Healthy cartilage; B: Osteoarthritis cartilage.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Microscopic signs. A: Microscopic signs of healthy knee hyaline cartilage. The histological (HE staining) analysis of cartilage from normal donor, showed a preserved morphological structure with no sign of cartilage degradation. Moreover, the surface of healthy hyaline cartilage appears white, shiny, elastic and firm. Magnification x 20; Scale bars: 100 μm; B: Microscopic signs of osteoarthritis (OA) knee hyaline cartilage. The histological (HE staining) analysis of cartilage from OA donor. The donor demonstrated joint swelling and oedema, horizontal cleavage tears or flaps, the surface becomes dull and irregular and had minimal healing capacity. Magnification x 20; Scale bars: 100 μm. Moderate OA cartilage (black arrow), the structural alterations included a reduction of cartilage thickness of the superficial and the middle zones. The structure of the collagen network is damaged, which leads to reduced thickness of the cartilage. The chondrocytes are unable to maintain their repair activity with subsequent loss of the cartilage tissue. Severe OA cartilage (blue arrow), demonstrated deep surface clefts, disappearance of cells from the tangential zone, cloning, and a lack of cells in the intermediate and radial zone, which are not arranged in columns. The tidemark is no longer intact and the subchondral bone shows fibrillation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Graphic representation of the cartilage tissue engineering. MSC: Mesenchymal stem cell.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Mesenchymal stem cells development. A: First day of culture; B: Third day of culture; C: One week of culture. Magnification x 40; Scale bars: 50 μm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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