Engineering CARTILAGE from BONE MARROW.

Engineering CARTILAGE from BONE MARROW. Creating new cartilage from a person’s own cells could make possible the ultimate repair for joints affected by osteoarthritis (OA). In OA, joint-cushioning cartilage is progressively worn away. British researchers have taken a significant step forward by engineering cartilage tissue from bone marrow cells. They obtained cells from people undergoing hip replacement and seeded them onto scaffolding material. Then molecular signals were added in a specific sequence to prompt the cells to produce cartilage. The researchers say that their experiments support the feasibility of using an individual’s own bone marrow cells to generate mature cartilage implants. Implanting cartilage developed from one’s own cells would avoid the risk of the immune system rejecting donor tissue, and thus the need for ongoing use of immunosuppressive drugs.