Objective: To review the recent progress of the researches in the field of cartilage tissue engineering, and to discuss the challenges in construction of tissue engineered cartilage.
Methods: Literature related with cartilage tissue engineering was reviewed and analyzed.
Results: Some techniques have been applied in clinical. As far as the seeding cells, induced pluripotent stem cells have attracted much more attention. Current strategies of scaffold designing are trying to imitate both component and structure of natural extracellular matrix. Cartilage regeneration through the autologous cell homing technique eliminate the transplantation of exotic cells and has become the hot topic.
Conclusion: Successful treatment of the damaged cartilage using tissue engineering method will depend on the advances of stem cell technology development, biomimetic scaffolds fabrication and proper application of growth factors.