Meniscal repair using engineered tissue

Abstract

In this study, devitalized meniscal tissue pre-seeded with viable cultured chondrocytes was used to repair a bucket-handle incision in meniscal tissue transplanted to nude mice. Lamb knee menisci were devitalized by cyclic freezing and thawing. Chips measuring four by two by one-half millimeters were cut from this devitalized tissue to serve as scaffolds. These chips were then cultured either with or without viable allogeneic lamb chondrocytes. From the inner third of the devitalized meniscal tissue, rectangles were also cut approximately 8 x 6 mm. A 4 mm bucket-handle type incision was made in these blocks. The previously prepared chips either with (experimental group) or without viable chondrocytes (control group) were positioned into the incisions and secured with suture. Further control groups included blocks of devitalized menisci with incisions into which no chips were positioned and either closed with suture or left open with no suture. Specimens were transplanted to subcutaneous pouches of nude mice for 14 weeks. After 14 weeks, seven of eight experimental specimens (chips with viable chondrocytes) demonstrated bridging of the incision assessed by gross inspection and manual distraction. All the control groups were markedly different from the experimental group in that the incision remained grossly visible. Histological analysis was consistent with the differences apparent at the gross level. Only the experimental specimens (chips with viable chondrocytes) with gross bridging demonstrated obliteration of the interface between incision and scaffold. None of the control specimens revealed any cells or tissue filling the incision. Tissue engineering using scaffolds and viable cells may have an application in meniscal repair in vivo.

Healing of meniscal tissue by cellular fibrin glue: an in vivo study

“…Previous studies of our group demonstrated the feasibility and the efficiency of bonding cartilaginous [25,26,28,32] and meniscal [27,29] tissue with cellular fibrin glue. According to this experience, we have designed the present study in order to evaluate the potential of chondrocytes-embedded fibrin glue for bonding meniscal slices in a nude mouse model.…”

“…Menisci were harvested from pig knees and devitalized by freeze/thaw cycles using a standardized protocol [27]. Radial slices were obtained from the menisci by sectioning its circumferential fibers.…”

Creating a spectrum of fibrocartilages through different cell sources and biochemical stimuli

“…Fibrochondrocytes have been used many times in the past (Aufderheide and Athanasiou, 2005;Hidaka et al, 2002;Ibarra et al, 1997;Isoda and Saito, 1998;Martinek et al, 2005;Mueller et al, 1999;Pangborn and Athanasiou, 2005b;Walsh et al, 1999) and can be used to create constructs with a predominantly collagen type I matrix, similar to the outer meniscus . For the inner meniscus, chondrocytes have recently received increased attention (Peretti et al, 2001(Peretti et al, , 2004Puelacher et al, 1994;Weinand et al, 2006). With the goal of increasing the collagen type II and proteoglycan components of the neotissue, the two cell types have been co-cultured to create an extracellular matrix composed of collagen I, collagen II, and proteoglycans, thus expanding the breadth of tissue characteristics that could be generated .…”

Use of hydrodynamic forces to engineer cartilaginous tissues resembling the non-uniform structure and function of meniscus

“…Several studies have indicated that tissue engineering has the potential to yield meniscus substitutes which could, immediately after implantation, protect articular cartilage by distributing and absorbing physiological loads [9][10][11][12]. The generation of meniscus grafts with a sufficient level of functionality could be facilitated by the application of defined regimes of physical conditioning in bioreactors, similarly to what has been introduced in cartilage tissue engineering [13,14].…”