Regeneration of cartilage defects › Institute of Bioprocess Engineering

Regeneration of cartilage defects with decellularized cartilage material

This project is a close collaboration with the Clinic for Ear, Nose and Throat Medicine of the Medical Department of the Mannheim University (Prof. Dr. Nicole Rotter), and with the Department of Orthopedics, Section of Biochemistry of Joint and Connective Tissue Diseases (Prof. Dr. Rolf Brenner), Ulm.

Since cartilage cannot regenerate, defects in nose or auricle have to be reconstructed using autologous or alloplastic materials. Frequently however, chronical immunological rejection reactions occur and can even cause extrusions. In orthopaedics the application of procedures involving the stimulation of bone marrow or the implantation of autologous chondrocytes led to partly cured defects only. Frequently, the newly formed tissues are also inferior in their function and integrate unsufficiently. In both fields, regenerative procedures from the tissue engineering field are considered to have the highest potential. Up to now, research concentrated on materials colonized in advance and in vitro with appropriate cells. As an alternative, cartilage substitute materials are possible, which are based on extra-cellular matrix being able to stimulize the environment of the defect in such a way, that progenitor cells will migrate to the defect and recolonize the scaffold.

Based on the process developed at the Institute of Bioprocess Engineering appropriate substitution materials (scaffolds) for the repair of defects are processed from natural cartilage, e.g. nose septum or meniscus. The fundamental principle is based on a possibly complete decellularization and on an elimination of all compounds, which could cause immunological defense reaction. Concurrently, all structural components and biological factors crucial for a tissue regeneration have to be preserved.

The central goal of the project is the characterization of the suitability of scaffold charges for an in situ regeneration of cartilage defects. We try to investigate which functional compounds of the cartiage material possibly important for the final functionality, keep maintained or are modified during the preparative process. Additionally, we examine, whether the loading of the scaffolds with biological active molecules might be beneficial and which biological effects might be involved. Our clinical partners recellularize our scaffolds and follow the chondrogenic differentiation of the mesenchymal stem cells and progenitor cells during the recellularization.

This project is financed by the German Research Foundation (project number BU 461/36-1).