Tissue engineered in vitro model of Osteoarthritis

Tissue Engineering attempts to develop tissue-like constructs in laboratory, to replace diseased or damaged organs. Despite best attempts only few constructs could reach up to clinical trial level so far. As a paradigm shift, developments of engineered tissues have great potential to advance our understanding of human disease processes, in terms of cellular signaling pathways or to screen new drugs. In this cover page publication in the journal Tissue Engineering Part-A, we have demonstrated how immobilization of cytokines with Silk matrix, in a biomimetic manner, can create inflammatory microenvironment present in Osteoarthritic cartilage. The engineered tissue constructs showed dramatic similarity with osteoarthritis pathophysiology in terms of cell morphology and phenotype.