Evanston, Ill. -- Northwestern University scientists say they have become the first to design a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo.
The researchers, led by Professor Samuel Stupp, said the nanomaterial spurs new cartilage growth without expensive growth factors by activating bone marrow stem cells and producing natural cartilage. No conventional therapy can do this, Strupp said.
"Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and therefore clinical strategies to regenerate this tissue are of great interest," said Stupp, director of the university's Institute for BioNanotechnology in Medicine.
