"Heat of the Moment: The Overlooked Key to Cartilage Engineering''

Abstract

Articular cartilage's limited regenerative capacity is compounded by the overlooked thermomechanical factors critical to its function. Recent studies emphasize the importance of cartilage self-heating, arising predominantly from energy dissipation under physiological loading, in maintaining an optimal environment for chondrocyte activity. This thermal dimension, integral to cartilage homeostasis, is absent in traditional tissue engineering approaches, which may explain their limited success. A deeper integration of thermomechanical cues into regenerative strategies could thus be pivotal for advancing articular cartilage repair. Incorporating thermomechanical cues into regenerative strategies offers a practical pathway to revolutionize cartilage repair and regeneration. By mimicking the physiological environment through dynamic thermal and mechanical stimulation within bioreactors, these approaches hold promise for advancing tissue engineering models and optimizing in vitro culture conditions tailored to the complexities of cartilage regeneration. This Mini-Review aims to highlight the need for a paradigm shift in cartilage regeneration, advocating for approaches that incorporate dynamic thermal and mechanical stimuli to enhance therapeutic outcomes.

Figure 1

Self-heating in cartilage due to loading: energy dissipation from joint loading results in gradual heat buildup within the cartilage tissue. Viscoelastic materials possess a unique capacity to transform mechanical energy into heat via friction mechanisms between polymeric chains, culminating in the process known as “self-heating”. When dynamically stimulated, friction between the polymeric chains of the material leads to the dissipation of a portion of the total mechanical strain energy. This energy is then converted into heat, causing a local temperature increase inside the material. Cartilage tissue, with its highly viscoelastic nature, is no exception to this phenomenon, and self-heating plays a critical role in maintaining its functional environment. The schematic was created with BioRender.com.