It’s the holy grail in orthopedics: Finding a way to enhance damaged or naturally deteriorating cartilage. Now a finding in the lab stands to revolutionize joint care, turning back the hands of time.
Once the body is done growing at about age 18, so is our cartilage. And as we age – the thin layer of tissue that covers our joints wears down.
Dr Samuel Stupp is a materials scientist with Northwestern University.
“It doesn’t regenerate easily at all after you are fully developed,” he said. “And when it’s damaged, you have not only pain but difficulty walking and moving around.”
That’s why the quest to regenerate cartilage is a robust science. From surgery to stem cells, doctors are always searching for methods to mend the wear and tear we place on our joints.
“Cells by themselves is not a good strategy. You need a matrix so to speak. So our material is a matrix,” Stupp said.
It took decades of work to fill tiny vials.
“Our intent is to be able to use this material to regenerate defects in cartilage or damaged cartilage,” Stupp said.
What looks like a gel is actually a highly bio-active substance made up of peptides, proteins and polysaccharides. And the goo doesn’t just fill a gap.
“In our case, our materials have signals and are structured to communicate with cells and get the cells to regenerate specific tissue — in this case cartilage,” he said.
Stupp and his team tested their substance in sheep.
“Sheep of course are almost as large as we are, as heavy, and therefore it’s a very pre-clinical model to predict what might happen in humans,” he said.
What happened? The sheep grew cartilage!
“We removed healthy cartilage then filled the defect with our material and then six months later cut to,” he said. “And we see that authentic cartilage has been regenerated in the place where there was a defect. … It is clear moving forward there will be great interest in regenerative medicine.”
The next step is to test the substance in small defects such as those suffered in sports injuries or trauma, with the ultimate goal of avoiding a total joint replacement.
