| 1 | WGN News | Chicago scientists develop revolutionary cartilage regeneration techno... | 739462 | 14605 | 1768 | 70.4 | positive | 2:46 | On the Medical Watch for you this afternoon, a breakthrough in orthopedic research that could revolutionize joint care. A local lab has developed a treatment to potentially enhance damaged or naturally deteriorating cartilage. W. J.N. S. On the Medical Watch, it's the Holy Grail in orthopedics, finding a way to enhance damaged or naturally deteriorating cartilage. Now a local finding in the lab stands to revolutionize joint care, turning back the hands of time. We run them down. It doesn't regenerate easily at all after you are fully developed. It's all we get. Once the body is done growing at about age 18, so is our cartilage. And as we age, the thin layer of tissue that covers our joints wears down. And when it's damaged, then you have not only pain, but difficulty walking, moving around. That's why the quest to regenerate cartilage is a robust science. From surgery to stem cells, doctors are always searching for methods to mend the wear and tear we place on our joints. Cells by themselves is not a good strategy. I mean, you need a matrix, so to speak. So our material is a matrix. It took decades of work to fill these tiny vials. Our intent is to be able to use this material to regenerate defects in cartilage or damaged cartilage. What looks like a gel is actually a highly bioactive substance made up of peptides, proteins, and polysaccharides. The goo doesn't just fill a gap. In our case, our materials have signals in their structure to communicate the cells and get the cells to regenerate a specific tissue. In this case, cartilage. Dr. Stoop and his team tested their substance in sheep. Sheep, of course, is as large as we are and as heavy. And therefore, it's a very good preclinical model to predict what might happen in humans. What happened? The sheep grew cartilage. It removed healthy cartilage, then filled the defect with our material. And then six months later, and we see that authentic cartilage has been regenerated in the place where there was a defect. But it is clear that moving forward, there will be great interest in regenerative medicine. The next step is to test the substance in small defects, like those suffered in sports injuries or trauma, with the ultimate goal of helping patients avoid a total joint replacement. Back to you. | ↗ |