[Tissue engineered cartilage for biological repair of cartilage defects]

Recent developments in tissue engineering techniques in cartilage repair were discussed. Recently, the novel two-step method, the alginate-recovered-chondrocyte method (ARC method), which does not require the aid of an exogenous synthetic matrix, was developed. The first step of this method consists of culturing phenotypically stable chondrocytes under conditions optimal for the formation of a proteoglycan-rich cell-associated matrix (CM) in alginate beads. Then, the cells with their CM are recovered from the alginate and allowed to rapidly integrate into a solid mass of tissue on a culture insert with a porous membrane. The use of a growth factor, recombinant human osteogenic protein-1 (OP-1) maximized the formation of tissue engineered cartilaginous tissue from adult human articular cartilage. Using the ARC method, the enhancement of matrix formation by OP-1 will produce a larger volume of tissue-engineered cartilage to cover large defects.