In Vitro Development Of Repair Strategies For Articular Cartilage

In three Volumes this mini book series presents current knowledge and new perspectives on cartilage as a specialized yet versatile tissue. This third volume provides insight into current and future treatment strategies for repair of cartilage lesions. This book addresses Professors, researchers and PhD students who are interested in musculoskeletal and cartilage pathobiology and tissue-engineering.

This comprehensive book discusses cartilage repair and all its aspects. These aspects vary from basic insights in cartilage biology and regeneration via MRI, to results of existing cartilage repair techniques and upcoming novel approaches. Fundamental cartilage biology is the topic covered within the first chapters of the book. These chapters not only provide an insight in healthy, damaged and regenerative cartilage but also describe developments in gene therapy and methods to enhance chondrogenesis of stemcells and prevent hypertophic differentiation. There is a huge progress in the possibilities of MR imaging of both healthy, damaged and regenerative cartilage. These developments not only enable better monitoring of cartilage repair but may also unravel the pathophysiology of the development of cartilage defects. Different cartilage repair techniques (e.g. allografts, autologous chondrocytes transplantation [ACT], microfracture), there technical aspects (e.g. developments towards an total arthroscopic approach), pitfalls, and outcomes are reported in the following chapters. In these chapters factors important for the results of cartilage repair such as meniscal repair, patient factors are described. Finally, an overview of novel cartilage repair techniques such as minced cartilage, denovo cartilage and more areas are discussed in this comprehensive addition to the literature.

The focus of this book is to create a comprehensive analysis of cartilage injury and repair strategies. Twenty chapters cover proven and emerging procedures and methodologies. Readers will be able to understand the clinical problem, appropriate diagnosis, and repair strategies relevant to first line and secondary cartilage repair procedures.

Tissue engineering as a technology and as a therapeutic has captured worldwide attention and commitmentbecause it has such potential in the care of humanity. Because we are not as yet able to craft robust three dimensional vascular and ductal structures to support the development of complex parenchymal organs, the initial focus of the field has been on thin tissues that can be nourished by diffusion alone.The best example of this class is cartilage. Thought by some to be a relatively simple tissue in the early days of tissue engineering, deep study of this tissue has shown it to manifest great complexity.Yearsof experimental and clinical effort have begun to untangle the clues that will allow us to reproducibly characterize, gener ate and clinically apply engineered cartilage with positive effects.World wide researchers and clinicians are intently focused on this goal and it has come time to step back and make a good assessment of our progress.

Reviewing exhaustively the current state of the art of tissue engineering strategies for regenerating bones and joints through the use of biomaterials, growth factors and stem cells, along with an investigation of the interactions between biomaterials, bone cells, growth factors and added stem cells and how together skeletal tissues can be optimised, this book serves to highlight the importance of biomaterials composition, surface topography, architectural and mechanical properties in providing support for tissue regeneration. Maximizing reader insights into the importance of the interplay of these attributes with bone cells (osteoblasts, osteocytes and osteoclasts) and cartilage cells (chondrocytes), this book also provides a detailed reference as to how key signalling pathways are activated. The contribution of growth factors to drive tissue regeneration and stem cell recruitment is discussed along with a review the potential and challenges of adult or embryonic mesenchymal stem cells to further enhance the formation of new bone and cartilage tissues. This book serves to demonstrate the interconnectedness of biomaterials, bone/cartilage cells, growth factors and stem cells in determining the regenerative process and thus the clinical outcome.

Articular cartilage is a connective tissue that normally provides a load-bearing, low friction, wear-resistant tissue located at the ends of long bones through its depth-varying cell and matrix properties. When damaged, articular cartilage possesses limited capacity for self-repair. Cartilaginous tissue has been engineered to recapitulate the normal zonal organization of cartilage. The effects of such tissues as treatment for focal cartilage defects in vivo have not been determined. In addition, experimental studies have shown that implanted cells may not be retained in the defect site, and that host cells may also enter the defect site, both of which may modulate the efficacy of defect repair. This dissertation aims to establish cytotracking methods for chondrocytes and to use these methods to assess the cellular mechanisms of articular cartilage defect repair in vivo after implantation of cartilaginous tissue that had a stratified population of cells resembling normal cartilage, or tissue that had a traditional, mixed population of cells. Stratified and mixed cartilage constructs were formed with chondrocytes from the superficial and middle/deep zones of articular cartilage, fluorescently labeled with tracking dyes, PKH26 and CFSE. The dyes were strongly retained by chondrocytes, even when induced to proliferate at varying rates and were tracked through at least 7 cycles of cell division in vitro. The dyes were found to have minimal effects on chondrocyte function, including proliferation and secretion of PRG4. Implant-derived cells were localized and recovered after implantation for 1 week however, stratification of cartilaginous tissues was not maintained in vivo suggesting contributions from both implant and host cells to the population of the defect. After 4 weeks in vivo, persistence of implant-derived cells in the defect region was observed with stratified constructs maintaining certain features of stratification after 4 weeks in vivo which were distinct from mixed constructs suggesting a role of cell organization and phenotype in cartilage repair. Clarifying cell source (implanted vs. host) and fates contributes to a mechanistic understanding of the repair of articular cartilage defects and possible tissue engineering repair strategies for the growing population of patients with impaired joint function.

In systemic childhood diseases, including cancer, gastrointestinal, pulmonary and cardiac disorders, childhood growth is severely impaired. In addition, almost 400 known genetic diseases inhibit the ability of the growth plate to form new bone, leaving affected children with growth failure and bony deformities which can severely impact their quality of life and may lead to morbidity and early mortality.This book provides a comprehensive review of bone and cartilage development, growth and disease. Focusing on novel treatment strategies, regulatory signals and molecular mechanisms are discussed in relation to the diseases affecting them. Furthermore, novel methodologies in bone and cartilage research based on recent advances in skeletal stem cell biology, cartilage tissue engineering and allele-specific gene silencing is covered.Providing insight into the basic mechanisms of bone growth, structure and metabolism, research methodology, as well as discussing the clinical management of related diseases, this book is of particular value to physicians with a special interest in bone and cartilage biology; in particular endocrinologists and pediatric endocrinologists that see patients with growth disorders, osteoporosis, osteogenesis imperfecta, and skeletal dysplasias.

Well-known for their inability to heal, articular cartilage injuries often degenerate inexorably to disastrous impairment. Multitudes of treatments have been devised for this problem, but no satisfactory long-term solutions have been established. Written by world-class experts, Articular Cartilage covers the latest research and advancements related to biology, development, pathology, clinical applications, and tissue engineering. This book is useful for rheumatologists, orthopaedic surgeons, cartilage biologists, and cartilage engineers as well as for professionals working in the orthopaedic and other musculoskeletal industries. This book also belongs in the library of primary care physicians, gerontologists, physical therapists, kinesiologists, and chiropractors. Written at a level that allows accessibility to a wide audience, it provides an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses the breadth and depth of basic science, bioengineering, translational science, and detailed methodologic approaches. The authors examine the major events and signaling molecules that lead to development of articular cartilage from precursor cells, and the changes in cartilage as it matures and ages. They focus on the epidemiology, etiopathogenesis, and therapeutic approaches for cartilage injury and the major arthritides that affect cartilage and the synovial joints such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and gout. They supply an up-to-date overview of the field of tissue engineering as applied to articular cartilage repair. They examine a number of methods used to assess structure, composition, biology, and biomechanical function. Each chapter contains extensive references to enhance additional study. The book’s comprehensive focus on multiple aspects of articular cartilage sets it apart from other tissue engineering or developmental biology-based books available. It includes important discussions and perspectives on many of the remaining challenges and opportunities in the development and translation of new approaches for treating diseases of articular cartilage. It also provides detailed working protocols for many of the methods used to study articular cartilage, coverage of current treatment options, and business and regulatory aspects of the development of cartilage products. It provides a deeper understanding that will help with the development of new products and clinical applications.

The present book recapitulates the articles published within the Special Issue "Cartilage Repair and Regeneration: Focus on Multi-Disciplinary Strategies", Applied Sciences, MDPI, dealing with the innovative multi-disciplinary therapeutic approaches for musculoskeletal diseases. In particular the published studies space from advanced 3D bioprinting technology to obtain a scaffold with different zonal cell densities, and biphasic scaffold (ChondroMimetic) construction, pass through the comparison of different techniques for cartilage regeneration such as of mosaicplasty and matrix-assisted autologous chondrocyte transplantation (MACT) and histopathological features of osteochondral units, and end with the considerations regarding development of bioreactors able to mimic the biomechanical load on chondrocytes in vitro, giving some interesting insights in this specific scientific field.