Cultured autologous chondrocytes can be used to repair deep cartilage defects in the femorotibial articular surface of the knee joint.

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Autologous chondrocyte implantation has emerged as an effective and durable solution for the treatment of large full-thickness cartilage and osteochondral lesions of the knee joint. Our study suggests that the clinical and functional outcomes remain high even 10 to 20 years after the implantation.

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Cartilage lesions can progress into secondary osteoarthritis and cause severe clinical problems in numerous patients. As a prospective treatment of such lesions, human-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were shown to be 3D bioprinted into cartilage mimics using a nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) composite bioink when co-printed with irradiated human chondrocytes. Two bioinks were investigated: NFC with alginate (NFC/A) or hyaluronic acid (NFC/HA). Low proliferation and phenotypic changes away from pluripotency were seen in the case of NFC/HA. However, in the case of the 3D-bioprinted NFC/A (60/40, dry weight % ratio) constructs, pluripotency was initially maintained, and after five weeks, hyaline-like cartilaginous tissue with collagen type II expression and lacking tumorigenic Oct4 expression was observed in 3D -bioprinted NFC/A (60/40, dry weight % relation) constructs. Moreover, a marked increase in cell number within the cartilaginous tissue was detected by 2-photon fluorescence microscopy, indicating the importance of high cell densities in the pursuit of achieving good survival after printing. We conclude that NFC/A bioink is suitable for bioprinting iPSCs to support cartilage production in co-cultures with irradiated chondrocytes.

This study is the first to report a comprehensive gene expression analysis of human OA cartilage compared to control cartilage from donors lacking macroscopical and microscopical signs of OA using recently developed microarrays containing the whole human genome. Our results could broadly confirm previously published data on many characteristic features of OA as well as adding a panel of genes to the list of genes known to be differentially expressed in OA. Elucidation of the phenotypical alterations occurring in OA chondrocytes is important for the development of effective treatments for OA.

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