Adult and Embryonic Stem Cells in Cartilage Repair

Injured cartilage tissue has a limited capacity to heal. There is increasing need for the development of biologically based approaches for cartilage repair. The ultimate aim is to repair the damaged cartilage tissue with new functional tissue using living cells (alone or in combination with suitable scaffolds) that will integrate with the patient’s remaining tissue and yield a regenerated functional joint. Cell therapy approaches represent a novel strategy in the treatment of cartilage diseases. Among the different types of stem/progenitor cells being evaluated, adult stem cells have demonstrated the greatest promise — bone marrow-derived stromal cell subpopulations represent the most widely studied cell types. Developmentally immature marrow stromal cells appear capable of meeting most, if not all, of the criteria needed for a successful approach. Keywords: Stem cells, self-renewal, chondrogenesis, cartilage reparative medicine.