An ex vivo human osteochondral culture model

Congratulations to Meike W.A. Kleuskens on the publication of her paper “An ex vivo human osteochondral culture model” in the Journal of Orthopaedic Research.

Kleuskens’s study demonstrates that “human osteochondral explants with a smooth cartilage layer can be kept in culture for at least 4 weeks while preserving cartilage viability and composition”. This platform can be developed into more complex models and potentially allow the evaluation and testing of existing and novel treatments, like implants performance and regeneration capacities for both, osteochondral and chondral defects. This ex vivo human tissue-based approach also helps to reduce animal experimentation and to overcome translational issues in cartilage tissue engineering.

This research is being conducted as part of the Osteoarthritis Moonshot, which aims to develop an affordable treatment for this chronic disease, by creating a biomechanically smart functional implant that immediately restores pain-free function.