Research progress of functional motifs based on growth factors in cartilage tissue engineering: A review

Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative joint disease that exerts significant impacts on personal life quality, and cartilage tissue engineering is a practical treatment in clinical. Various growth factors are involved in cartilage regeneration and play important roles therein, which is the focus of current cartilage repair strategy. To compensate for the purification difficulty, high cost, poor metabolic stability, and circulating dilution of natural growth factors, the concept of functional motifs (also known as mimetic peptides) from original growth factor was introduced in recent studies. Here, we reviewed the selection mechanisms, biological functions, carrier scaffolds, and modification methods of growth factor-related functional motifs, and evaluated the repair performance in cartilage tissue engineering. Finally, the prospects of functional motifs in researches and clinical application were discussed.

Automated summary

Osteoarthritis, a chronic degenerative joint disease, has a significant impact on personal quality of life. Cartilage tissue engineering is a practical treatment in clinical practice for osteoarthritis. Functional motifs (mimetic peptides) derived from natural growth factors have been introduced in recent studies to overcome the limitations of natural growth factors. This review provides an overview of the selection mechanisms, biological functions, carrier scaffolds, modification methods, and repair performance of growth factor-related functional motifs in cartilage tissue engineering, as well as discusses their prospects in research and clinical application.