Biomaterials for Cartilage Tissue Engineering

One of the most challenging issues of musculoskeletal medicine is represented by injuries of the articular cartilage due to the poor regenerative properties of this tissue. A consequence of these injuries is represented by osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common chronic condition of the joints, caused because of the progressive wear and tear on articular cartilage. A solution to prevent progressive joint degeneration in osteoarthritis is represented by a surgical intervention which offers the advantage of the success of total joint replacement, but also offers several disadvantages such as such as slower remodeling, immune reaction and disease transmission. In the last years, the researchers have found a solution to avoid surgical intervention by using biomaterials. This study aims to provide an updated survey of the major progress in the flied of biomaterials for cartilage tissue engineering, including biomaterials (natural, synthetic or composites), their advantages or disadvantages and the main seeding cell sources. Also, this review focuses on the progress made in the field of biomaterials for cartilage tissue repair and/or regeneration over the last years.