Stem cell therapy in cartilage repair-culture-free and cell culture-based methods

Abstract

In order to overcome potential problems associated with autologous chondrocyte implantation, mesenchymal stem cell-based therapies could be potential alternatives. Conventional stem cell-based therapy accompanies the separation of cells from tissue followed by monolayer culture for the expansion of cell numbers. On the other hand, the cost of cell culture under quality control is high, which could be a potential barrier for industrialization. In order to reduce the cost associated cell culture, culture-free cell-based therapies have been investigated with the use of bone marrow aspirate. In this chapter, we will introduce the three stem cell-based therapies in cartilage repair. The first two procedures are using cell culture methods and the last one with cell-free method. All the three methods have been into the stage of clinical trials and their surgical procedures as well as their preliminary results will be reported. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.