Benchmarking cartilage regeneration across ten chondrogenic cell sources using native tissue references
- 1Tissue Engineering and Biofabrication, Department of Health Science and Technology, ETH Zurich; Otto-Stern-Weg 7, Zurich, CH-8093, Switzerland; Manufacturing 4
Abstract
A persistent challenge in cartilage tissue engineering is identifying cell sources capable of regenerating cartilage with native-like properties. Variability in chondrogenic potential among human- and animal-derived cells complicates graft development and disease modeling. Here we benchmarked ten chondrogenic cell sources under standardized culture conditions using hyaluronan-alginate biomaterials and implementing a functionality index combining histological and mechanical metrics referenced to native tissue. Mesenchymal stem cells and fetal chondroprogenitors demonstrated superior regenerative capacity, achieving 103% and 95% of native cartilage functionality, respectively. In contrast, adult articular chondrocytes from healthy and osteoarthritic donors produced fibrocartilaginous tissue with functionality scores below 50%. These findings provide a quantitative framework to guide cell source selection and optimize cartilage graft standardization for clinical applications and physiologically relevant disease models, addressing regulatory demands for product characterization.
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BibTeX
@misc{ponta2026benchmarking,
title = {{Benchmarking cartilage regeneration across ten chondrogenic cell sources using native tissue references}},
author = {S. Ponta and V. Pecina and M. Airoldi and D. Simmen and E. Novoa Olivares and T. Linder and A. E. Laurent and L. A. Applegate and G. Salzmann and V. Bruhin and M. Stoddart and M. Zenobi-Wong and P. Fisch},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.05.756631},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756631v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Benchmarking cartilage regeneration across ten chondrogenic cell sources using native tissue references
AU - S. Ponta
AU - V. Pecina
AU - M. Airoldi
AU - D. Simmen
AU - E. Novoa Olivares
AU - T. Linder
AU - A. E. Laurent
AU - L. A. Applegate
AU - G. Salzmann
AU - V. Bruhin
AU - M. Stoddart
AU - M. Zenobi-Wong
AU - P. Fisch
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/05
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.05.756631
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756631v1
AB - A persistent challenge in cartilage tissue engineering is identifying cell sources capable of regenerating cartilage with native-like properties. Variability in chondrogenic potential among human- and animal-derived cells complicates graft development and disease modeling. Here we benchmarked ten chondrogenic cell sources under standardized culture conditions using hyaluronan-alginate biomaterials and implementing a functionality index combining histological and mechanical metrics referenced to native tissue. Mesenchymal stem cells and fetal chondroprogenitors demonstrated superior regenerative capacity, achieving 103% and 95% of native cartilage functionality, respectively. In contrast, adult articular chondrocytes from healthy and osteoarthritic donors produced fibrocartilaginous tissue with functionality scores below 50%. These findings provide a quantitative framework to guide cell source selection and optimize cartilage graft standardization for clinical applications and physiologically relevant disease models, addressing regulatory demands for product characterization.
ER -