Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2015 Oct 19;370(1680):20140369.
doi: 10.1098/rstb.2014.0369.

From gristle to chondrocyte transplantation: treatment of cartilage injuries

Anders Lindahl  1
Affiliations
Review

From gristle to chondrocyte transplantation: treatment of cartilage injuries

Anders Lindahl. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. .

Abstract

This review addresses the progress in cartilage repair technology over the decades with an emphasis on cartilage regeneration with cell therapy. The most abundant cartilage is the hyaline cartilage that covers the surface of our joints and, due to avascularity, this tissue is unable to repair itself. The cartilage degeneration seen in osteoarthritis causes patient suffering and is a huge burden to society. The surgical approach to cartilage repair was non-existing until the 1950s when new surgical techniques emerged. The use of cultured cells for cell therapy started as experimental studies in the 1970s that developed over the years to a clinical application in 1994 with the introduction of the autologous chondrocyte transplantation technique (ACT). The technology is now spread worldwide and has been further refined by combining arthroscopic techniques with cells cultured on matrix (MACI technology). The non-regenerating hypothesis of cartilage has been revisited and we are now able to demonstrate cell divisions and presence of stem-cell niches in the joint. Furthermore, cartilage derived from human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells could be the base for new broader cell treatments for cartilage injuries and the future technology base for prevention and cure of osteoarthritis.

Keywords: cartilage; cell therapy; stem cells.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The molecular arrangement of extracellular matrix in cartilage. SS, disulfide bond; KS, keratan sulfate. Adapted with permission from [3]. Copyright © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Autologous chondrocyte transplantation technique. Adapted with permission from [17]. Copyright © 1994 Massachusetts Medical Society.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Illustration and visualization of a stem cell niche in the rabbit knee. A, perichondrial groove of Ranvier; B, growth plate; C, articular cartilage. Adapted with permission from [55].
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Hunter W. 1742. Of the structure and diseases of articulating cartilages. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 42, 514–521. ( 10.1098/rstl.1742.0079) - DOI
    1. Muir H. 1995. The chondrocyte, architect of cartilage. Biomechanics, structure, function and molecular biology of cartilage matrix macromolecules. BioEssays 17, 1039–1048. ( 10.1002/bies.950171208) - DOI - PubMed
    1. Heinegard D, Saxne T. 2011. The role of the cartilage matrix in osteoarthritis. Nat. Rev. Rheumatol. 7, 50–56. ( 10.1038/nrrheum.2010.198) - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hardingham TE, Muir H. 1972. The specific interaction of hyaluronic acid with cartillage proteoglycans. Biochim. Biophys. Acta 279, 401–405. ( 10.1016/0304-4165(72)90160-2) - DOI - PubMed
    1. Berenbaum F. 2013. Osteoarthritis as an inflammatory disease (osteoarthritis is not osteoarthrosis!). Osteoarthrit. Cartilage 21, 16–21. ( 10.1016/j.joca.2012.11.012) - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources