title: Should we use cells, biomaterials, or tissue engineering for cartilage regeneration?
abstract: For a long time, cartilage has been a major focus of the whole field of tissue engineering, both because of the constantly growing need for more effective options for joint repair and the expectation that this apparently simple tissue will be easy to engineer. After several decades, cartilage regeneration has proven to be anything but easy. With gratifying progress in our understanding of the factors governing cartilage development and function, and cell therapy being successfully used for several decades, there is still a lot to do. We lack reliable methods to generate durable articular cartilage that would resemble the original tissue lost to injury or disease. The question posed here is whether the answer would come from the methods using cells, biomaterials, or tissue engineering. We present a concise review of some of the most meritorious efforts in each area, and propose that the solution will most likely emerge from the ongoing attempts to recapitulate certain aspects of native cartilage development. While an ideal recipe for cartilage regeneration is yet to be formulated, we believe that it will contain cell, biomaterial, and tissue engineering approaches, blended into an effective method for seamless repair of articular cartilage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, VC12-234, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Bernhard
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, VC12-234, New York, NY, 10032, USA. gv2131@columbia.edu.|Department of Medicine, Columbia University, 622 West 168th Street, VC12-234, New York, NY, 10032, USA. gv2131@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Gordana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vunjak-Novakovic
mesh_terms: D053674:Aggrecans / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002358:Cartilage, Articular / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D064987:Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; D019902:Chondrocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D020219:Chondrogenesis / Q000187:drug effects; D024043:Collagen Type II / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D020100:Hydrogels / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D059630:Mesenchymal Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D010007:Osteochondritis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D012038:Regeneration / Q000187:drug effects*; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends
chemical_list: C508319:ACAN protein, human; D053674:Aggrecans; D001672:Biocompatible Materials; C499177:COL2A1 protein, human; D024043:Collagen Type II; D020100:Hydrogels; D055758:SOX9 Transcription Factor; C527932:SOX9 protein, human
keywords: Biomaterial; Bioreactor; Cartilage; Chondrocytes; Hydrogel; Implantation; Mesenchymal stem cells; Tissue engineering