Abstract
Healing of articular cartilage defects presents a challenging issue, due to its regenerative shortcomings. Lacking vascularity and innervation of cartilage and low proliferative potential of chondrocytes are the main reasons for the limited healing potential of articular cartilage. Traditional reparative approaches are limited in their efficiency, hence there is a demand for novel reparative treatments. Mesenchymal stromal cells, preferred for clinical uses, can be readily derived from various sources and have been proven to have a therapeutic effect on cartilage and subchondral bone. Therefore, mesenchymal stromal cells, their derivates, and scaffolds have been utilized in research targeting osteochondral regeneration. The present review aims to comprehensively outline and discuss literature considering this topic published within last 5 years.
Highlights
Treatment of articular cartilage defects has proven to be a challenging subject in the field of regenerative medicine
Bone marrow may be a source of heterogenic bone marrow concentrate (BMC), a patient material which is not cultured, or bone marrow-derived Mesenchymal stromal (stem) cells (MSCs), which are applied upon culture expansion, granting more homogenic character
The most accessible source with least donor site morbidity are adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ADMSCs), which are currently widely researched for future osteochondral therapies
Summary
Treatment of articular cartilage defects has proven to be a challenging subject in the field of regenerative medicine. Mesenchymal stromal (stem) cells (MSCs) are known to have potential to differentiate into diverse cell lines depending on available niche, and support their therapeutic potential via their paracrine activity This demonstrates their wide possibilities of utilization in biological therapy for a vast number of diseases. MSC-exosomes, commonly present in MSC secretome, are extracellular microvesicles (30–150 nm in diameter) made of lipid bilayer, incapsulating multiple cargos, capable of influencing cells and tissues through several signaling pathways without triggering an immune response [24,25] Because of these representative features, recent studies have employed MSC-exosomes in cartilage regeneration and recognized their capacity to regulate chondrocyte homeostasis and coordinate subsequent regeneration processes via inducing chondrocyte proliferation, migration, differentiation, and matrix synthesis [26]. Reference [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42] [43] [44] [32] [45] [46] [47] [26] [48] [49] [50] [51]
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