Tissue engineering: chondrocyte cultures on type I collagen support. Cytohistological and immunohistochemical study.

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Cartilaginous tissue has limited capacity for regeneration after damage, since the natural repair process leads to the formation of fibrocartilaginous tissue which does not have the resistance and capability of deformation under load, typical of hyaline cartilage which covers the articular surfaces. The possibility of transplanting human chondrocytes for cartilage reconstruction has been demonstrated in orthopaedics. The scope of our study was to evaluate the possibility of cultivating and expanding human chondrocytes seeded on a pure equine type I collagen support. Human articular cartilaginous cells multiplied and grew on a type I collagen substrate with production of extracellular matrix. This chondrocyte culture showed a correct morphology and phenotype as shown by alcian-PAS staining to indicate the presence of mucopolysaccharides and by immunohistochemical methods to identify type II collagen. The use of scaffolds may lead to improvement in the surgical technique, by making it possible to hold the cells physically in the area to be repaired and by allowing optimum spatial adaptation inside injuries of all shapes.