Articular cartilage has a very limited capacity for intrinsic healing. Because the tissue is avascular, the injury does not induce the typical wound healing response, characterized by inflammation and invasion of undifferentiated mesenchymal cells [1]. Depending on the nature and severity of the cartilage lesion, therapies currently used in cartilage tissue engineering (CTE) can either be directed towards tissue repair and reconstruction or towards local tissue regeneration [2]. To date, strategies elaborated to solve cartilage defects remain ineffective.
