Cell resources in cartilage tissue engineering research:Chondrocyte and fibroblast / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

Articular chondrocytes are the main cell sources for cartilage repair.However,the harvesting of articular cartilage is a highly invasive procedure accompanied by the potential site morbidity and loss of function for donor.In addition,low cell yields,low mitotic rates,and low bioactivity further limit the use of articular chondrocytes in clinic.Other potential autologous chondrocyte sources in vivo include auricular,nasoseptal and costal cartilage with differences function,structure,and composition which result in different discrete biochemical,physical and biomechanical properties.Presently,efforts in cartilage regeneration mainly focus on chondrocytes isolated from immature animals,which have faster growth rate and rapid capacity for differentiation than those from old donors.Skin presents a minimally invasive,relatively abundant source of fibroblasts for tissue engineering.Although the direct transplantation of fibroblasts on PLA meshes in a cartilage defect may leads to fibroplasia,fibroblasts can be induced differentiated into chondrogenic phenotype under the appropriate culture conditions.