Injectable bioactive gel to help self-healing of cartilage under development
A minimally invasive, practical and inexpensive approach for repairing cartilage and preventing osteoarthritis is being developed by an orthopaedic research team in the US.
“We are creating an [injectable, bioactive] hydrogel that can repair cartilage damage, regenerate stronger cartilage, and hopefully delay or eliminate the development of osteoarthritis and eliminate the need for total knee replacement,” explains Yin Yu who is working on the project.
The research team previously found precursor cells in cartilage that can mature into new cartilage tissue. Then they identified molecular signalling factors that attract these precursor cells, known as chondrogenic progenitor cells, out of the surrounding healthy tissue into the damaged area and cause them to develop into new, normal cartilage. One of the signals is called stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF1) and it acts like a homing beacon for the precursor cells.
So the team loaded the custom-made hydrogel with SDF1 and injected it into holes punched into some model cartilage. The precursor cells migrated toward the SDF1 signal and filled in the injury site. Then they applied a growth factor and this caused the cells to mature into normal cartilage that repaired the injury.
“This process gives us a great result,” Yin Yu says. “The new cartilage integrates seamlessly with the undamaged tissue, it has normal concentrations of proteoglycans, good structural properties, and looks like normal cartilage.”
Although the new tissue is not as strong as normal cartilage, the research team believes that mechanical loading (the type of stress that is exerted during exercise) might improve that aspect of it.
Next steps
The team now needs to include the growth factor in the gel so that there is a stepwise release of SDF1 followed by the growth factor.
Animal trials should start within a year and human trials within five years. The good news is that all the components the team is using have been approved by the FDA already which should speed up the process.
“There’s really no cure for osteoarthritis except for total joint replacement, which is not particularly suitable for younger patients because the artificial joints wear out and need to be replaced multiple times,” says Dr James Martin who is leading the research. “Our approach aims to leverage the body’s own capacity for repair, and what we’ve shown is that cartilage does have regenerative potential; you just have to manipulate it just right.”
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Image credit: H Powers
