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Abstract

Arthroplasty is currently the only surgical procedure available to restore joint function following articular cartilage and bone degeneration associated with diseases such as osteoarthritis (OA). A potential alternative to this procedure would be to tissue-engineer a biological implant and use it to replace the entire diseased joint. The objective of this study was therefore to tissue-engineer a scaled-up, anatomically shaped, osteochondral construct suitable for partial or total resurfacing of a diseased joint. To this end it was first demonstrated that a bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cell seeded alginate hydrogel could support endochondral bone formationin vivowithin the osseous component of an osteochondral construct, and furthermore, that a phenotypically stable layer of articular cartilage could be engineered over this bony tissue using a co-culture of chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells. Co-culture was found to enhance thein vitrodevelopment of the chondral phase of the engineered graft and to dramatically reduce its mineralisationin vivo. In the final part of the study, tissue-engineered grafts (~ 2 cm diameter) mimicking the geometry of medial femorotibial joint prostheses were generated using laser scanning and rapid prototyped moulds. After 8 weeksin vivo, a layer of cartilage remained on the surface of these scaled-up engineered implants, with evidence of mineralisation and bone development in the underlying osseous region of the graft. These findings open up the possibility of a tissue-engineered treatment option for diseases such as OA.