REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
This article is part of the Research TopicBiomimetic Scaffold Materials for Engineering of in-vitro Tissue/Organ Models and in-vivo Tissue RepairView all 7 articles
Models of cartilage repair with autologous mesenchymal stem cells seeded on scaffolds: a systematic narrative review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Carolina Hospital Orthopedic Department, Warsaw, Poland
- 2Department of Histology and Embryology, Center of Biostructure Research, Medical University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
- 3Institute of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Siedlce, Siedlce, Poland
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Focal post-traumatic cartilage lesions frequently progress to early osteoarthritis, highlighting the limited regenerative capacity of adult articular cartilage. Compared to native tissue, conventional surgical interventions often produce fibrocartilage with inferior biomechanical properties, representing a persistent therapeutic challenge. This review assessed preclinical studies exploring cartilage repair strategies using autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in animal models. MSCs therapies demonstrated superior cartilage regeneration, matrix organization, and integration into the surrounding tissue compared to the control groups. The most efficient source was found to be bone marrow - derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) combined with biodegradable scaffolds, suggesting their potential in tissue engineering applications. Despite methodological heterogeneity across studies - including variations in stem cells sources, implant types, and deliver strategies - cumulative evidence strongly supports the regenerative potential of autologous MSCs for cartilage repair. Current research identifies key knowledge gaps, including the absence of standardized experimental protocols and limited insight into the mechanisms of tissue remodeling and maturation. Collectively, these gaps limit direct clinical translation, highlighting the need for further, standardized studies in large animal models with long-term follow-up (>2 years) to assess integration, functional maturation, and the full regenerative potential of the repair tissue.
Keywords: Animal Models, articular cartilage, Autologous transplantation, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), scaffolds, Seeded Scaffolds, Tissue Engineering, Translational models
Received: 07 Dec 2025; Accepted: 30 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Wrobel, Rytel, Jaszczyszyn, Maj, Malejczyk and Janiuk. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Mikolaj Wrobel
Izabela Róża Janiuk
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