Korean Researchers Come Up With New Method to Treat Injured Cartilage

Cartilage, a bone-protecting tissue, promotes easy joint movement and absorbs shock. We may end up sustaining cartilage injuries due to small or major accidents. Over the years, stem cell transplantation has been used for treating inflammation and damage as well as encouraging cartilage regeneration despite its low innate healing potential. Now, researchers from Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Dongguk University Medical Centre, and Nature Gluetech in Korea have developed a new treatment for injured cartilage that is more effective than stem cell transplantation. The researchers mentioned that results from stem cell transplantation are less successful because of the quick clearance of transplanted cells from the fluid environment surrounding cartilage as well as the smooth surface of the cartilage itself.

The team’s new method involves the use of a thick, immiscible liquid. When the liquid is mixed with a gooey protein derived from mussels and hyaluronic acid, it can help transplant stem cells into injured tissue. The study was published in the Chemical Engineering Journal. The funding for the research was provided by the Korea Health Technology Research and Development Project under the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

To get around the limitations of the previous treatment, the researchers created a unique bioadhesive substance in the form of a viscous liquid phase. This was accomplished by mixing hyaluronic acid with high molecular weight adhesion protein from mussels to promote electrostatic contact between them.

The team has created a bioadhesive material that can safely enclose stem cells and aid their strong adhesion to the transplantation site with the help of a highly viscous liquid that does not break down or swell in water. In addition, the scientists showed in a rabbit model evaluation that stem cells injected into damaged cartilage were kept as it is when encased within the liquid.

Moreover, stem cell transplantation’s therapeutic effects were strengthened by the prolonged survival of transplanted stem cells within injured cartilage. A natural glue that does not require any further physical or chemical processes is another advantage of the adhesive liquid created by the researchers. This discovery will go a long way in trauma treatment and healing as well as arthritis treatment.