Cartilage from Trees and Seaweed

Surgery department researcher PhD candidate Michelle Lan has published a paper in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology answering the question: Can we make cartilage from trees and seaweed? Her supervisor, Dr. Adetola Adesida, is a world leader in 3D bioprinting of cartilage and knee meniscus

Ms. Lan explains, “The avascular inner regions of the knee menisci cannot self-heal. As a prospective treatment, functional replacements can be generated by cell-based 3D bioprinting with an appropriate cell source and biomaterial. To that end, human meniscus cell from surgical castoffs of partial meniscectomies, as well as cellulose nanofiber (from paper)-alginate (from seaweed) based hydrogels, have emerged as a promising cell source and biomaterial combination.” The objectives of the study were to first find the optimal formulations of cellulose nanofiber/alginate precursors for bioprinting, and then to use them to investigate redifferentiation and synthesis of functional inner meniscus-like extracellular matrix components by expanded hMFCs.