Page 137 - IJB-9-4

International Journal of Bioprinting

REVIEW ARTICLE
3D-printed gradient scaffolds for osteochondral

defects: Current status and perspectives

Jianhang Du , Ziqing Zhu , Jia Liu , Xiaogang Bao , Qian Wang ,
3
1
3†
1†
2†
Changgui Shi , Chaoqian Zhao *, Guohua Xu *, Dejian Li *
3
4
1
3
1 Department of Orthopedics, Shanghai Pudong Hospital, Fudan University Pudong Medical Center,
Shanghai, China
2 Department of Orthopedics, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of
Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
3
Department of Orthopedics, Spine Center, Second Affiliated Hospital of Naval Medical University,
Shanghai, China
4 State Key Laboratory of High Performance Ceramics and Superfine Microstructure, Shanghai
Institute of Ceramics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advances in 3D bioprinting for regenerative medicine and drug
screening)
Abstract
Articular osteochondral defects are quite common in clinical practice, and tissue
engineering techniques can offer a promising therapeutic option to address this
† These authors contributed equally issue.The articular osteochondral unit comprises hyaline cartilage, calcified cartilage
to the work. zone (CCZ), and subchondral bone.As the interface layer of articular cartilage and
*Corresponding authors: bone, the CCZ plays an essentialpart in stress transmission and microenvironmental
Chaoqian Zhao regulation.Osteochondral scaffolds with the interface structure for defect repair are
(mpo456@163.com) the future direction of tissue engineering. Three-dimensional (3D) printing has the
Guohua Xu advantages of speed, precision, and personalized customization, which can satisfy
(xuguohuamail@smmu.edu.cn) the requirements of irregular geometry, differentiated composition, and multilayered
Dejian Li structure of articular osteochondral scaffolds with boundary layer structure. This paper
(lidejian880820@163.com)
summarizes the anatomy, physiology, pathology, and restoration mechanisms of the
Citation: Du J, Zhu Z, Liu J, et al., articular osteochondral unit, and reviews the necessity for a boundary layer structure
2023, 3D-printed gradient scaffolds
for osteochondral defects: Current in osteochondral tissue engineering scaffolds and the strategy for constructing the
status and perspectives. scaffolds using 3D printing. In the future, we should not only strengthen the basic
Int J Bioprint, 9(4): 724. research on osteochondral structural units, but also actively explore the application
https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.724
of 3D printing technology in osteochondral tissue engineering. This will enable
Received: November 18, 2022 better functional and structural bionics of the scaffold, which ultimately improve the
Accepted: January 18, 2023
Published Online: March 31, 2023 repair of osteochondral defects caused by various diseases.
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s).
This is an Open Access article Keywords: 3D printing, Scaffold, Osteochondral defect
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution
License, permitting distribution
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is 1. Introduction
properly cited.
Osteochondral defects are lesions that involve both the articular cartilage (AC) and
Publisher’s Note: Whioce
Publishing remains neutral with its underlying subchondral bone (SB). The location, size, and degree of osteochondral
regard to jurisdictional claims in defects in clinical practice vary from one cause to another, including traumatic
published maps and institutional osteochondral injury, exfoliative osteochondritis, osteonecrosis, and osteoarthritis
affiliations.

Volume 9 Issue 4 (2023) 129 https://doi.org/10.18063/ijb.724