Cartilage is a connective tissue found in joints, the ears, nose etc. It plays the essential function of holding bones together and keeping various passageways open in the body, such as the trachea. However, as people grow old the cartilage starts to wear, especially in joints that have experienced constant stress, leading to a degenerative disease known as Osteoarthritis.
Researchers at the University of Manchester have recently reported that they successfully produced cartilage in rats from embryonic stem cells. The researchers generated chondroprogenitors, precursor to cartilage cells, from human embryonic stem cells and then implanted the cells in the knee joints of rats that had damaged cartilage. The cartilage was partially repaired after only four weeks and attained a similar appearance to normal cartilage by week twelve. Not only did the cartilage develop normally, but also there was no abnormal tumor growth, which is a common occurrence. This is promising research since it can potentially lead to new ways of repairing damaged cartilage. This experiment on rats will eventually pave the way for trails in humans that are still some time away in the future.
Article: Medical News Today
Article summary courtesy of Waleed Khan