Use of Stem Cells in Cartilage Tissue Regeneration and Engineering: A Review

Cartilage is a tissue without vessel and lymph in body. If it has a massive defect, it cannot regenerate and reconstruct itself. In this society, cartilage diseases such as osteoarthritis and cartilage defects have increased. Its defects can disrupt the daily function of the patient and can be accompanied by pain due to bone wear. Common methods used to treat cartilage defects, which are considered invasive with low efficacy, include autologous chondrocytes, microfracture, bone marrow stimulation, and debridement. Current treatments are not definitive methods, which is why the use of stem cells and cartilage tissue engineering has been turned on. In the current review, the types of stem cells used in cartilage therapy and cartilage tissue engineering were investigated. Then, cellular signaling factors such as growth factors, mechanical and environmental factors were mentioned and referred to scaffolds based on the biomaterials used to engineer high-efficiency stem cells for the reconstruction of cartilage tissue. Therefore, the aim of this study was to review the use of stem cells in cartilage tissue regeneration and engineering.
The role of stem cells in regeneration of cartilage has been properly proven, but the mechanism and method of creating this regeneration has not yet been determined. Mesenchymal cells have the highest safety in cell therapy in cartilage, and these types of cells have the most clinical usage. In Iran, cell therapy is performed clinically for patients, but cartilage tissue engineering has not yet reached the clinical stage.