Intra-articular Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Microcarrier Delivery to Reduce Osteoarthritis.

The histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) was a milestone in the treatment of refractory T-cell lymphoma. However, the beneficial effects of HDACi have not been appreciated in osteoarthritis (OA). Herein, we implemented a microcarrier system because of the outstanding advantages of controlled and sustained release, biodegradability, and biocompatibility.

Immunomodulatory PEG-CRGD Hydrogels Promote Chondrogenic Differentiation of PBMSCs.

Cartilage damage is a common injury. Currently, tissue engineering scaffolds with composite seed cells have emerged as a promising approach for cartilage repair. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogels are attractive tissue engineering scaffold materials as they have high water absorption capacity as well as nontoxic and nutrient transport properties.

Kartogenin-Conjugated Double-Network Hydrogel Combined with Stem Cell Transplantation and Tracing for Cartilage Repair.

The effectiveness of existing tissue-engineering cartilage (TEC) is known to be hampered by weak integration of biocompatibility, biodegradation, mechanical strength, and microenvironment supplies. The strategy of hydrogel-based TEC holds considerable promise in circumventing these problems. Herein, a non-toxic, biodegradable, and mechanically optimized double-network (DN) hydrogel consisting of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and kartogenin (KGN)-conjugated chitosan (CHI) is constructed using a simple soaking strategy.

Protein-spatiotemporal partition releasing gradient porous scaffolds and anti-inflammatory and antioxidant regulation remodel tissue engineered anisotropic meniscus.

Meniscus is a wedge-shaped fibrocartilaginous tissue, playing important roles in maintaining joint stability and function. Meniscus injuries are difficult to heal and frequently progress into structural breakdown, which then leads to osteoarthritis. Regeneration of heterogeneous tissue engineering meniscus (TEM) continues to be a scientific and translational challenge.

Scaffold-Based Tissue Engineering Strategies for Osteochondral Repair.

Over centuries, several advances have been made in osteochondral (OC) tissue engineering to regenerate more biomimetic tissue. As an essential component of tissue engineering, scaffolds provide structural and functional support for cell growth and differentiation. Numerous scaffold types, such as porous, hydrogel, fibrous, microsphere, metal, composite and decellularized matrix, have been reported and evaluated for OC tissue regeneration and , with respective advantages and disadvantages.

Fabrication of Injectable Chitosan-Chondroitin Sulfate Hydrogel Embedding Kartogenin-Loaded Microspheres as an Ultrasound-Triggered Drug Delivery System for Cartilage Tissue Engineering.

Ultrasound-responsive microspheres (MPs) derived from natural polysaccharides and injectable hydrogels have been widely investigated as a biocompatible, biodegradable, and controllable drug delivery system and cell scaffolds for tissue engineering. In this study, kartogenin (KGN) loaded poly (lactide--glycolic acid) (PLGA) MPs (MPs@KGN) were fabricated by premix membrane emulsification (PME) method which were sonicated by an ultrasound transducer. Furthermore, carboxymethyl chitosan-oxidized chondroitin sulfate (CMC-OCS) hydrogel were prepared via the Schiff' base reaction-embedded MPs to produce a CMC-OCS/MPs scaffold.

Principles for establishment of the stem cell bank and its applications on management of sports injuries.

Background: The stem cells of the stem cell banks have prominent problems for insufficient sources, easy contamination, unstable biological characteristics after serial subcultivations, and high cost.

Methods: After collecting the construction processes of the existing stem cell banks and suggestions from authoritative experts in the past 10 years, 230 reference principles were obtained, and finally, the principles of "5C" for the establishment of modern standardized stem cell banks were summarized, and their related applications on the management of sports injuries were reviewed as well.

Results: The basic principles of "5C" for the establishment of modern standardized stem cell banks include (1) principle of informed consent, (2) confidentiality principle, (3) conformity principle, (4) contamination-free principle, and (5) commonweal principle.

The Higher Inherent Therapeutic Potential of Biomaterial-Based hDPSCs and hEnSCs for Pancreas Diseases.

Human endometrial stem cells (hEnSCs), dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) and adipose tissue-derived stem cells (hADSCs) are considered to be the promising candidates for the treatment of pancreas diseases. The prognosis is better with injection of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to the damaged pancreas compared with intravenous injection. However, the clinical application of these cells are limited, due to poor engraftment of transplanted cells after delivery.

Facile Strategy on Hydrophilic Modification of Poly(ε-caprolactone) Scaffolds for Assisting Tissue-Engineered Meniscus Constructs .

Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) derived scaffolds have been extensively explored in the field of tissue-engineered meniscus (TEM) originating from their good biosafety and biomechanical properties. However, the poor intrinsic hydrophobicity severely hindered their wide applications for the scaffold-assisted tissue regeneration. Herein, we developed a simple strategy on surface modification of three-dimensional (3D) PCL scaffolds a simply soaking treatment of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solutions to increase the hydrophilicity and roughness of scaffolds' surfaces.

Advances of Stem Cell-Laden Hydrogels With Biomimetic Microenvironment for Osteochondral Repair.

Osteochondral damage from trauma or osteoarthritis is a general joint disease that can lead to an increased social and economic burden in the modern society. The inefficiency of osteochondral defects is mainly due to the absence of suitable tissue-engineered substrates promoting tissue regeneration and replacing damaged areas. The hydrogels are becoming a promising kind of biomaterials for tissue regeneration.

Low-Molecular-Weight Heparin-Functionalized Chitosan-Chondroitin Sulfate Hydrogels for Controlled Release of TGF-β3 and Neocartilage Formation.

Repair of hyaline cartilage remains a huge challenge in clinic because of the avascular and aneural characteristics and the paucity of endogenous repair cells. Recently, tissue engineering technique, possessing unique capacity of repairing large tissue defects, avoiding donor complications and two-stage invasive surgical procedures, has been developed a promising therapeutic strategy for cartilage injury. In this study, we incorporated low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) into carboxymethyl chitosan-oxidized chondroitin sulfate (CMC-OCS) hydrogel for loading transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) as matrix of peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells (PB-MSCs) to construct tissue-engineered cartilage.

Biomimetic Nanosilica-Collagen Scaffolds for In Situ Bone Regeneration: Toward a Cell-Free, One-Step Surgery.

Current approaches to fabrication of nSC composites for bone tissue engineering (BTE) have limited capacity to achieve uniform surface functionalization while replicating the complex architecture and bioactivity of native bone, compromising application of these nanocomposites for in situ bone regeneration. A robust biosilicification strategy is reported to impart a uniform and stable osteoinductive surface to porous collagen scaffolds. The resultant nSC composites possess a native-bone-like porous structure and a nanosilica coating.

Orchestrated biomechanical, structural, and biochemical stimuli for engineering anisotropic meniscus.

Reconstruction of the anisotropic structure and proper function of the knee meniscus remains an important challenge to overcome, because the complexity of the zonal tissue organization in the meniscus has important roles in load bearing and shock absorption. Current tissue engineering solutions for meniscus reconstruction have failed to achieve and maintain the proper function in vivo because they have generated homogeneous tissues, leading to long-term joint degeneration. To address this challenge, we applied biomechanical and biochemical stimuli to mesenchymal stem cells seeded into a biomimetic scaffold to induce spatial regulation of fibrochondrocyte differentiation, resulting in physiological anisotropy in the engineered meniscus.

Quadriceps-sparing versus traditional medial parapatellar approaches for total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis.

Background: There is still controversy regarding whether Quadriceps-sparing (QS) approach for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) lead to better earlier recovery as well as compromising low limb alignment and prosthesis position compared with conventional medial parapatellar (MP) approach. To overcome the shortcomings and inaccuracies of single studies, the clinical outcomes and radiographic assessments of QS approach and MP approach were evaluated through meta-analysis.

Methods: We performed this meta-analysis according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis guidelines.

The Radiated Deep-frozen Xenogenic Meniscal Tissue Regenerated the Total Meniscus with Chondroprotection.

Meniscal allograft transplantation yields good and excellent results but is limited by donor availability. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of radiated deep-frozen xenogenic meniscal tissue (RDF-X) as an alternative graft choice in meniscal transplantation. The xenogenic meniscal tissues were harvested from the inner 1/3 part of the porcine meniscus and then irradiated and deeply frozen.

Regulatory effect of anti-gp130 functional mAb on IL-6 mediated RANKL and Wnt5a expression through JAK-STAT3 signaling pathway in FLS.

We investigated the effect on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of an anti-gp130 monoclonal antibody (mAb) and its mechanism using RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) and a collagen antibody-induced arthritis (CAIA) mouse model. We determined the interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-6 receptor α (IL-6Rα), gp130, receptor activator of nuclear factor κB ligand (RANKL), matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP3), TIMP metallopeptidase inhibitor 1 (TIMP1), and Bcl-2 levels in RA and osteoarthritis (OA) serum and synovial fluid. RA FLS were cultured with or without IL-6/IL-6Rα; WNT5A and RANKL levels were detected.

Risk of total/subtotal meniscectomy for respective medial and lateral meniscus injury: correlation with tear type, duration of complaint, age, gender and ACL rupture in 6034 Asian patients.

Background: To evaluate the risk factor associated with total or subtotal meniscectomy for respective medial and lateral meniscus injury.

Methods: The data of all the meniscus injured patients undergoing arthroscopy in our institute between January 15th, 2000 and December 31st, 2008 was collected and 6034 patients with 7241 injured menisci met the inclusion criteria. The mean patient age was 33.

The roles of metabolic thermogenesis in body fat regulation in striped hamsters fed high-fat diet at different temperatures.

The metabolic thermogenesis plays important roles in thermoregulation, and it may be also involved in body fat regulation. The thermogenesis of brown adipose tissue (BAT) is largely affected by ambient temperature, but it is unclear if the roles in body fat regulation are dependent on the temperature. In the present study, uncoupling protein 1 (ucp1)-based BAT thermogenesis, energy budget and body fat content were examined in the striped hamsters fed high fat diet (HF) at cold (5°C) and warm (30°C) temperatures.

3D-Printed Poly(ε-caprolactone) Scaffold Augmented With Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Total Meniscal Substitution: A 12- and 24-Week Animal Study in a Rabbit Model.

Background: Total meniscectomy leads to knee osteoarthritis in the long term. The poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffold is a promising material for meniscal tissue regeneration, but cell-free scaffolds result in relatively poor tissue regeneration and lead to joint degeneration.

Hypothesis: A novel, 3-dimensional (3D)-printed PCL scaffold augmented with mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) would offer benefits in meniscal regeneration and cartilage protection.

Chondrogenic Potential of Peripheral Blood Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells Seeded on Demineralized Cancellous Bone Scaffolds.

As a cell source with large quantity and easy access, peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells (PBMSCs) were isolated and seeded in porcine demineralized cancellous bone (DCB) scaffolds, cultured in chondrogenic medium and evaluated for in vitro chondrogenesis. Bone marrow MSCs (BMMSCs) and articular cartilage chondrocytes (ACCs) underwent the same process as controls. The morphology, viability and proliferation of PBMSCs in DCB scaffolds were similar to those of BMMSCs and ACCs.

Role of scaffold mean pore size in meniscus regeneration.

Unlabelled: Recently, meniscus tissue engineering offers a promising management for meniscus regeneration. Although rarely reported, the microarchitectures of scaffolds can deeply influence the behaviors of endogenous or exogenous stem/progenitor cells and subsequent tissue formation in meniscus tissue engineering. Herein, a series of three-dimensional (3D) poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) scaffolds with three distinct mean pore sizes (i.