Biologics for Bone and Soft Tissue Regeneration: What Is New, What Is True

Dear Colleagues,

Injuries to the musculoskeletal system involve bone, ligaments, muscles, and tendons,  producing pain, loss of function, instability, and, in the long term, osteoarthritis. Traditionally, the management of these injuries involves activity modification, physical therapy, a variety of surgical procedures, and pharmacological agents, including non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids viscosupplementation, and narcotics. All these modalities have limitations and potential side effects.

Over the last decade, there has been an increasing interest in the use of biologics for regenerative medicine applications. In regenerative medicine, functional tissue is engineered to repair, regenerate, or replace cells, tissues, or organs to restore and/or establish normal function lost from age, disease, damage, or congenital defects. Biologics currently used in clinical practice include platelet-rich plasma, bone marrow aspirate, adipose tissue aspirate, amniotic fluid, amniotic membrane, umbilical-cord-derived Wharton’s Jelly, and umbilical cord blood. The healing potential of these products is attributed to the presence of stem cells, growth factors, cytokines, hyaluronic acid, and extracellular vesicles, including exosomes.

The increasing applications of biologic therapies for regenerative medicine have led to considerable marketing, patient demand, and clinical use. This collection highlights the current status, challenges, and emerging trends on the use of these biologic therapies for regenerating musculoskeletal tissues, including bone and soft tissues. We welcome both basic and translational original research, and review articles covering, but not limited to:

• mechanisms of action of therapeutic effects of these biologics
• therapeutics effects of these biologics in regenerating bone and/or soft tissue(s)
• comparison of these biologics to current standard treatments
• identifying research gaps to guide future research and streamline translation to clinical utilization

Dr. Ashim Gupta
Prof. Dr. Nicola Maffulli
Guest Editors

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