• Special Issue Topic

    Cell Therapy and Tissue Engineering for Musculoskeletal Conditions: From Pre-clinical Studies to Clinical Trials

    Submission Deadline: March 31, 2024

    Guest Editor

    Prof. Elena Jones E-Mail

    Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

    Research Keywords: Knee joint, osteoarthritis, rheumatology, orthopedic surgery, arthroplasty


    About the Special Issue

    With increasing aging populations, bone and joint degenerative pathologies have become a significant clinical burden worldwide. In the absence of effective pharmacological treatments, tissue engineering approaches explore innovative biological and biomechanical interventions. They range from injections of biologically-active cells into the joint to the implantation of specifically-designed biocompatible scaffolds. Regenerative cells are normally obtained from platelet-rich-plasma (PRP) or multipotential stromal cell (MSC)-rich tissues such as adipose tissue, bone marrow aspirate or umbilical cord/cord blood. Regenerative cells can be further processed in order to obtain acellular, biologically-active particles termed extra-cellular vesicles (EVs). These cells or cell-derived particles can be injected directly into the damaged area, or they can be embedded into biomechanically-competent scaffolds - this ensures their longer-term retention in the repair area and optimises their bioactivity. Despite significant recent achievements in this field, many critical issues remain unresolved, particularly in terms of the clinical effectiveness, as well as cost-effectiveness, of these interventions long-term. This Special issue invites original pre-clinical and clinical research in this area that includes, but not limited to, the application of PRP (and other platelet-derived products), MSCs (autologous and allogeneic) and scaffolds (natural and synthetic) in the treatment of OA and other degenerative pathologies of the bone and joint. Clinical and surgical studies exploring novel delivery methods and tools are additionally welcome, as well as systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

    Keywords: Osteoarthritis (OA), platelet-rich-plasma (PRP), multipotential stromal cells (MSC), extracellular vesicles (EV), scaffold, cartilage regeneration

    Call for Papers

    Published Articles

    Open Access
    Original Article
    Mesenchymal stromal cells from people with osteoporosis are fewer, and defective in both osteogenic and adipogenic capacity
    Aim: Osteoporosis (OP) is caused by imbalanced bone remodelling homeostasis. It is highly prevalent, especially in post-menopausal women, resulting in high risk of fracture and morbidity. Mesench [...] Read more.
    Féaron C. Cassidy ... Cynthia M. Coleman
    Published: June 03, 2024 Explor Musculoskeletal Dis. 2024;2:164–180
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/emd.2024.00046
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