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Cartilage regeneration in 2022

New refinements aim to optimize articular cartilage tissue engineering

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From Nature Reviews Rheumatology

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Successful, long-term treatment of articular cartilage injuries is important for the prevention of osteoarthritis but remains a major challenge. Three studies in 2022 highlight new approaches to improving articular cartilage regeneration.

Key advances

  • A synthetic artificial stem cell (SASC) system, designed to mimic the secretome of mesenchymal stem cells, attenuated cartilage degeneration and improves the biomechanical properties of articular cartilage in vivo3.

  • A zonal microstructured scaffold proved to be robust and mechanically stable in a large-animal model of osteochondral defects4.

  • Scaffolds derived from solubilized articular cartilage extracellular matrix were able to successfully repair chondral lesions, particularly when loaded with TGFβ3 (ref. 5).

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Fig. 1: Three new therapeutic strategies for articular cartilage regeneration.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Experimental Orthopaedics, Centre for Medical Biotechnology (ZMB), University of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany

    Nicole Schäfer & Susanne Grässel

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany

    Susanne Grässel

Authors
  1. Nicole Schäfer
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  2. Susanne Grässel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susanne Grässel.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Schäfer, N., Grässel, S. New refinements aim to optimize articular cartilage tissue engineering. Nat Rev Rheumatol 19, 66–67 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41584-022-00889-y

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