Cartilage Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

Abstract

Cartilaginous tissue is mainly present in the joints, and it consists predominantly of type II collagen and glycoproteins, which promote functions of supporting biomechanical forces generated during the ambulation. The cartilage has a very limited regenerating capacity, causing traumas or degenerative diseases in this region difficult to solve. The current treatments for regeneration of the articular cartilages may be conservative or surgical, but they are not very successful, since the damaged tissue is replaced by fibrous tissue or fibrocartilage, with predominantly type I collagen, which present inferior functions. Cellular therapies, biomaterials, and tissue engineering to assist the healing process have been showing great potential. For example, the in vitro chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) is a technique that stimulates undifferentiated cells to transform into chondrocytes, creating a dense mass of aggregated MSCs and an environment with strong cell-cell interactions.

Injectable Composite Systems Based on Microparticles in Hydrogels for Bioactive Cargo Controlled Delivery

“…Cartilage is a poorly vascularized tissue and has limited regenerative properties, meaning that cell migration and proliferation to damaged sites for regeneration are limited. Different strategies that focus on cartilage regeneration have been developed to cultivate and deliver cells and/or growth factors to the damaged areas that can then proliferate and differentiate to chondrocytes [ 65 , 66 ]. Microparticles in hydrogel systems can be an option to deliver cells, with Hydrogels offering a good proliferation structure and microparticles delivering the bioactive agents that can promote cell proliferation and chondrogenesis for cartilage regeneration ( Table 4 ).…”