Also: autologous chondrocyte implantation, ACI, kartogenin
Joint cartilage heals poorly on its own. Researchers have repaired it with a patient's own grown cartilage cells and with molecules that coax stem cells into cartilage.
Readiness: lab lab studies · prototype demonstrated objects · commercial products or buildings in real use · review summaries of other studies.
Brittberg and colleagues treated deep knee cartilage defects by growing the patient's own cartilage cells and implanting them.
Built / tested: ACI procedure
As reported in: Brittberg, Lindahl, Nilsson et al. (1994). Treatment of Deep Cartilage Defects in the Knee with Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation. New England Journal of Medicine. doi:10.1056/NEJM199410063311401
Johnson and colleagues found a small molecule, kartogenin, that pushes stem cells toward cartilage and aided repair in mice.
As reported in: Johnson, Zhu, Tremblay et al. (2012). A Stem Cell–Based Approach to Cartilage Repair. Science. doi:10.1126/science.1215157
Abstract only