Biomimetic Scaffolds to Encourage Bone and Cartilage Regrowth

One of the areas of research that seems constantly on the verge of producing an impressive advance is the use of nanoscale scaffold materials to encourage regrowth of tissue, such as bone and cartilage. The space of possible combinations of techniques is vast, and there only so many researchers, and only so much funding. Advances such as the one noted here are published by research groups several times a year, and this has been the case for more than a decade now. This part of the field seems eternally in a state of progress and exploration, with promising leads, yet it remains the case that clinical options for regenerative medicine are far more limited than the space of the possible demonstrated in animal studies. Osteochondral defects pose a great challenge and a satisfactory strategy for their repair has yet to be identified. In particular, poor repair could result in the generation of fibrous cartilage and subchondral bone, causing the degeneration of osteochondral tissue and eventually leading to repair failure. Herein, taking inspiration from the chemical elements inherent in the natural extracellular matrix (ECM), we proposed a novel ECM-mimicking scaffold composed of natural polysaccharides and polypeptides for osteochondral repair. By meticulously modifying natural biopolymers to form reversible guest-host and rigid covalent networks, the scaffold not only exhibited outstanding biocompatibility, cell adaptability, and biodegradability, but also had excellen...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Daily News Source Type: blogs