MINIREVIEW - MECHANICAL FACTORS AFFECTING CARTILAGE REGENERATION IN-VITRO

In the last 5 to 10 years, tissue engineering has revolutionized the w ay in which medical researchers and clinicians are thinking of and, in some cases, actually treating diseases involving tissue damage and de struction. One such disease, osteoarthritis, results from progressive degeneration of articular cartilage, which has a limited ability to re pair itself. With tissue engineering, scientists are now able to regen erate cartilage in vitro from isolated mature chondrocytes. While the regeneration process is still not fully understood, enough has been le arned that physicians are already implanting cultured chondrocytes int o humans and other animals in the hopes of effecting joint repair. One aspect which has not been fully explored is the effect of mechanical stress on developing and implanted cartilage, especially over the long term. This article will review in brief what is now known about the m echanical factors affecting cartilage regeneration in vitro and what s till remains to be determined for optimum tissue engineering of cartil age constructs. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.