title: Current concepts: tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications in the ankle joint.
abstract: Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) has caused a revolution in present and future trends of medicine and surgery. In different tissues, advanced TERM approaches bring new therapeutic possibilities in general population as well as in young patients and high-level athletes, improving restoration of biological functions and rehabilitation. The mainstream components required to obtain a functional regeneration of tissues may include biodegradable scaffolds, drugs or growth factors and different cell types (either autologous or heterologous) that can be cultured in bioreactor systems (in vitro) prior to implantation into the patient. Particularly in the ankle, which is subject to many different injuries (e.g. acute, chronic, traumatic and degenerative), there is still no definitive and feasible answer to 'conventional' methods. This review aims to provide current concepts of TERM applications to ankle injuries under preclinical and/or clinical research applied to skin, tendon, bone and cartilage problems. A particular attention has been given to biomaterial design and scaffold processing with potential use in osteochondral ankle lesions.
authors.affiliation: 3B's Research Group-Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, , Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, S. Cláudio de Barco, Taipas, Guimarães 4806-909, Portugal.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Silva-Correia
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Van Dijk
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Espregueira-Mendes
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Reis
mesh_terms: D016512:Ankle Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000843:Ankle Joint / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000293:injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D012038:Regeneration / Q000502:physiology*; D044968:Regenerative Medicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; C048288:gellan gum
keywords: ankle; biomaterials; osteochondral lesions; regenerative medicine; scaffold; tissue engineering