Clinical translation of cartilage tissue engineering, from embryonic development to a promising long-term solution

Tissue engineering (TE) relies on the elucidation of molecular and physical mechanisms that guide progenitor cells toward desired phenotypes. The resulting differentiated cells, along with tridimensional scaffolds, form a construct that aims at restoring injured tissues. Understanding development processes has provided critical information to improve TE protocols to promote tissue regeneration. Articular cartilage constitutes one of the most challenging tissues to regenerate, in spite of its “simple” structure. The highly specialized chondrocyte presents special challenges in terms of inducing and maintaining its functional phenotype. Nevertheless, significant advances have been made in the field of articular cartilage TE, moving from elusive success to a promising long-term solution. In this chapter, we present challenges and recent advances related with articular cartilage TE. We review various critical factors to move from in vitro to in vivo studies, address the shortcomings, and suggest potential solutions to further preclinical research to clinical feasibility.