Therapeutic Nanomaterials for Cartilage Regeneration

Articular cartilage (AC) is the main focus of this chapter and indeed most cartilage regeneration studies, since it is commonly affected by diseases and traumatic injuries that necessitate its therapeutic regeneration. There are four main approaches for cartilage regeneration: cultured cell implantation, engineered tissue construct implantation, scaffoldless tissue regeneration, and guided tissue regeneration. Cartilage growth, development, and repair are dependent on both biomechanical and biological signals. The most important growth factors used in cartilage regeneration and tissue engineering approaches are the transforming growth factor ß (TGF-ß) family members, particularly TGF-ß1 and TGF-ß3. Overall, new strategies in the field of cartilage regeneration focus on the unique biochemical and physical properties of native cartilage to design novel tissue constructs that are decorated with cartilage-specific signals and display suitable anatomical geometries and mechanical properties for the treatment of large tissue defects.