Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, People's Republic of China.
J Biomed Mater Res A. 2012 Sep;100(9):2526-36. doi: 10.1002/jbm.a.34147. Epub 2012 Apr 10.
The injury and degeneration of articular cartilage and associated arthritis are leading causes of disability worldwide. Cartilage tissue engineering as a treatment modality for cartilage defects has been investigated for over 20 years. Various scaffold materials have been developed for this purpose, but has yet to achieve feasibility and effectiveness for widespread clinical use. Currently, the regeneration of articular cartilage remains a formidable challenge, due to the complex physiology of cartilage tissue and its poor healing capacity. Although intensive research has been focused on the developmental biology and regeneration of cartilage tissue and a diverse plethora of biomaterials have been developed for this purpose, cartilage regeneration is still suboptimal, such as lacking a layered structure, mechanical mismatch with native cartilage and inadequate integration between native tissue and implanted scaffold. The ideal scaffold material should have versatile properties that actively contribute to cartilage regeneration. Functional scaffold materials may overcome the various challenges faced in cartilage tissue engineering by providing essential biological, mechanical, and physical/chemical signaling cues through innovative design. This review thus focuses on the complex structure of native articular cartilage, the critical properties of scaffolds required for cartilage regeneration, present strategies for scaffold design, and future directions for cartilage regeneration with functional scaffold materials.
关节软骨的损伤和退变以及相关的关节炎是全球致残的主要原因。作为一种治疗软骨缺损的方法，软骨组织工程已经研究了 20 多年。为此目的已经开发了各种支架材料，但尚未实现广泛临床应用的可行性和有效性。目前，由于软骨组织的复杂生理学及其愈合能力差，关节软骨的再生仍然是一个艰巨的挑战。尽管人们已经集中精力研究软骨组织的发育生物学和再生，并为此开发了大量的生物材料，但软骨再生仍然不理想，例如缺乏分层结构、与天然软骨的力学不匹配以及天然组织与植入支架之间的整合不足。理想的支架材料应具有多种特性，这些特性可通过创新设计积极促进软骨再生。功能支架材料可以通过提供必要的生物学、力学和物理/化学信号来克服软骨组织工程中面临的各种挑战。因此，本综述重点介绍了天然关节软骨的复杂结构、软骨再生所需的支架的关键特性、目前的支架设计策略以及功能支架材料在软骨再生方面的未来方向。
