Biomechanical Analysis of Tissue Engineering Construct for Articular Cartilage Restoration—A Pre-clinical Study

The chondral lesion and osteoarthritis are conditions associated with an economic burden, since if left untreated may cause changes in the biomechanics of the joint and result in several injuries considered highly disabling to the individual. Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs) have the immunomodulatory capacity and paracrine signaling that are useful for tissue bioengineering to treat bone and cartilage injuries. To the best of our knowledge, there is no institution in Brazil studying cartilage biomechanical properties in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) technique. Therefore, this study aims to describe biomechanics analysis for cartilage restoration by tissue engineering and cell therapy treatments in a GMP translational large animal model. A controlled experimental study in fourteen Brazilian miniature pigs was performed, using scaffold-free Tissue Engineering Construct (TEC) from dental pulp and synovial MSCs with 6 months follow-up. To compare the cartilage with and without TEC, indentation and maximum compressive tests were performed, as well as Finite Element model to simulate the osteochondral block and characterize its properties. The Young’s Modulus of each sample was determined, and the outcomes of maximum compressive test demonstrated the cartilage integrity. The proposed method was feasible and capable to properly evaluate articular cartilage restoration.