Biofunctional Extracellular Matrix-Polycaprolactone-Hydroxyapatite Scaffold and Synovium Mesenchymal Stem Cells/Chondrocytes for Repairing Cartilage Defects.

Articular cartilage defects and degeneration can be caused by multiple factors, and the current clinical treatment schemes for pathological changes are relatively limited. Engineered cartilage tissue represents an alternative therapy for repairing cartilage defects in regenerative medicine. The scaffold material is considered the framework of tissue engineering; thus, scaffold material selection plays a crucial role in the therapy outcome. Polycaprolactone (PCL)-hydroxyapatite (HA) has been applied as a scaffold material for bone and cartilage tissue engineering with nontoxic, harmless metabolites and proper physical properties. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is mainly composed of collagen and proteoglycan, as well as a large number of growth factors and cytokines, which provide a tissue-specific microenvironment for host cells. Adipose-derived stem cells are pluripotent stem cells, and transforming growth factor-β3 (TGF-β3) enables mesenchymal stem cells to promote ECM production. This study, via