Injectable cartilage tissue engineering.

Cartilage is the tissue that lines the surface of bones in articulating joints, allowing painless joint movement. Cartilage loss is an increasingly significant problem, particularly with the ageing of active baby boomers, with few efficacious treatments available at present. Tissue engineering is a field that has evolved over recent years to combat tissue loss by providing a living tissue equivalent or substitute that can mimic the properties of the lost tissue. The general strategy of tissue engineering is to place cells on a biomaterial scaffold that is designed to promote cell function and form new tissue. This review describes the status of materials that are available as injectable scaffolds for tissue engineering and the numerous cell types that can be applied to cartilage repair, including cells derived from cartilage and stem cells. The current state of injectable cartilage tissue engineering and the hurdles that remain for widespread clinical application are discussed.