Degenerative meniscus tears (DMTs) are prevalent findings in osteoarthritic knees, yet current treatment is mostly limited to arthroscopic partial meniscectomy rather than regeneration, which further exacerbates arthritic changes. Translational research regarding meniscus regeneration is hindered by the complex, composite nature of the meniscus which exhibit a gradient from inner cartilage-like tissue to outer fibrous tissue, as well as engineering hurdles often requiring growth factors and cross-linking agents. Here, a meniscus zonal tissue gradient is proposed using zone-specific decellularized meniscus extracellular matrix (DMECM) and autologous synovial mesenchymal stem cells (SMSC) via self-aggregation without the use of growth factors or cross-linking agents. Combination with zone-specific DMECM during self-aggregation of MSCs forms zone-specific meniscus tissue that reflects the respective DMECM harvest site. The implantation of these constructs leads to the regeneration of meniscus tissue resembling the native meniscus, demonstrating inner cartilaginous and outer fibrous characteristics as well as recovery of native meniscal microarchitecture in a porcine partial meniscectomy model at 6 months. In all, the findings offer a potential regenerative therapy for DMTs that may improve current partial meniscectomy-based patient care.
Keywords: decellularized extracellular matrix; growth factor-free; meniscus; regenerative medicines; self-aggregation; synovial mesenchymal stem cells.
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