A Tunable, Three-Dimensional In Vitro Culture Model of Growth Plate Cartilage Using Alginate Hydrogel Scaffolds.

ABSTRACT: Defining the final size and geometry of engineered tissues through precise control of the scalar and vector components of tissue growth is a necessary benchmark for regenerative medicine, but it has proved to be a significant challenge for tissue engineers. The growth plate cartilage that promotes elongation of the long bones is a good model system for studying morphogenetic mechanisms because cartilage is composed of a single cell type, the chondrocyte; chondrocytes are readily maintained in culture; and growth trajectory is predominately in a single vector. In this cartilage, growth is generated via a differentiation program that is spatially and temporally regulated by an interconnected network composed of long- and short-range signaling mechanisms that together result in the formation

SUBMITTER: Erickson AG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6426278 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature