title: Strategies to minimize hypertrophy in cartilage engineering and regeneration.
abstract: Due to a blood supply shortage, articular cartilage has a limited capacity for self-healing once damaged. Articular chondrocytes, cartilage progenitor cells, embryonic stem cells, and mesenchymal stem cells are candidate cells for cartilage regeneration. Significant current attention is paid to improving chondrogenic differentiation capacity; unfortunately, the potential chondrogenic hypertrophy of differentiated cells is largely overlooked. Consequently, the engineered tissue is actually a transient cartilage rather than a permanent one. The development of hypertrophic cartilage ends with the onset of endochondral bone formation which has inferior mechanical properties. In this review, current strategies for inhibition of chondrogenic hypertrophy are comprehensively summarized; the impact of cell source options is discussed; and potential mechanisms underlying these strategies are also categorized. This paper aims to provide guidelines for the prevention of hypertrophy in the regeneration of cartilage tissue. This knowledge may also facilitate the retardation of osteophytes in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA ; Department of Joint Surgery, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China.
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Joint Surgery, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China.
authors.forename: Peiliang
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The 10th People's Hospital of Shanghai, Affiliated with Tongji University, Shanghai, 200072, China.
authors.forename: Ruijun
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cong
authors.affiliation: Department of Joint Surgery, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China.
authors.forename: HaiShan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Laboratory, Department of Orthopaedics, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA ; Exercise Physiology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA ; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia 26506, USA.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pei
keywords: Adult stem cell; Cartilage regeneration; Cartilage repair; Cartilage tissue engineering; Chondrogenesis; Hypertrophy