Vitrification of particulated articular cartilage via calculated protocols.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 33741977.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41536-021-00123-5 and PMC identifier 7979917.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Preserving viable articular cartilage is a promising approach to address the shortage of graft tissue and enable the clinical repair of articular cartilage defects in articulating joints, such as the knee, ankle, and hip. In this study, we developed two 2-step, dual-temperature, multicryoprotectant loading protocols to cryopreserve particulated articular cartilage (cubes ~1 mm<sup>3</sup> in size) using a mathematical approach, and we experimentally measured chondrocyte viability, metabolic activity, cell migration, and matrix productivity after implementing the designed loading protocols, vitrification, and warming. We demonstrated that porcine and human articular cartilage cubes can be successfully vitrified and rewarmed, maintaining high cell viability and excellent cellular function. The vitrified particulated articular cartilage was stored for a period of 6 months with no significant deterioration in chondrocyte viability and functionality. Our approach enables high-quality long-term storage of viable articular cartilage that can alleviate the shortage of grafts for use in clinically repairing articular cartilage defects.