Current concepts: tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications in the ankle joint

• Published in: Journal of the Royal Society interface Vol. 11; no. 92; p. 20130784
• Main Authors: Correia, S. I., Pereira, H., Silva-Correia, J., Van Dijk, C. N., Espregueira-Mendes, J., Oliveira, J. M., Reis, R. L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England The Royal Society 06.03.2014; Royal Society
• Subjects: Ankle; Ankle Injuries - physiopathology; Ankle Injuries - surgery; Ankle Joint - cytology; Ankle Joint - physiology; Biomaterials; Bone and Bones - injuries; Bone and Bones - physiopathology; Bone and Bones - surgery; Humans; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - metabolism; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; Osteochondral Lesions; Polysaccharides, Bacterial; Regeneration - physiology; Regenerative Medicine; Regenerative Medicine - methods; Regenerative Medicine - trends; Review; Review Articles; Scaffold; Science & Technology; Tendon Injuries - physiopathology; Tendon Injuries - surgery; Tissue Engineering; Tissue Engineering - methods; Tissue Engineering - trends; tissue engineering; biomaterials; osteochondral lesions; scaffold; ankle; regenerative medicine
• ISSN: 1742-5689; 1742-5662; 1742-5662
• DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0784

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) has caused a revolution in present and future trends of medicine and surgery. In different tissues, advanced TERM approaches bring new therapeutic possibilities in general population as well as in young patients and high-level athletes, improving restoration of biological functions and rehabilitation. The mainstream components required to obtain a functional regeneration of tissues may include biodegradable scaffolds, drugs or growth factors and different cell types (either autologous or heterologous) that can be cultured in bioreactor systems (in vitro) prior to implantation into the patient. Particularly in the ankle, which is subject to many different injuries (e.g. acute, chronic, traumatic and degenerative), there is still no definitive and feasible answer to ‘conventional’ methods. This review aims to provide current concepts of TERM applications to ankle injuries under preclinical and/or clinical research applied to skin, tendon, bone and cartilage problems. A particular attention has been given to biomaterial design and scaffold processing with potential use in osteochondral ankle lesions.