Direct and indirect co-culture of bone marrow stem cells and adipose-derived stem cells with chondrocytes in 3D scaffold-free culture

Introduction Damage to joint cartilage is a challenge in orthopedic medicine because of the limited self-repair potential of this tissue [1]. While cell-based therapies, such as Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (ACI), has shown some success for repairing cartilage defects [1], recent efforts have focused on the development of tissue engineered cartilage. Although