Three-Dimensional Bioprinting and Gene Therapy in Osteoarthritis

Dear Colleagues,

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major degenerative joint disease due to the progressive degradation of the articular cartilage, inflammation of the synovium and osteophyte formation. OA is associated with joint pain, instability and disability. Aging and obesity are major risk factors of OA; however, other factors such as chronic inflammation, knee injuries and genetic predisposition have also been reported to have a significant impact in the initiation and progression of OA. Unfortunately, actual available OA treatments aim to manage pain, decrease inflammation and improve mobility. Gene delivery strategies have demonstrated promising alternative therapeutics for inhibiting inflammation and cartilage degeneration and for enhancing cartilage growth and healing. Three-dimensional bioprinting in combination with gene therapy enables the ex vivo fabrication of implantable cartilage constructs that overexpress the therapeutic genes necessary to establish joint homeostasis.

The objective of this Special Issue is to address the recent progress made in engineered viral, non-viral and RNA-mediated gene delivery systems used for OA treatment. Advances in 3D bioprinting and bioink engineering for cartilage regeneration will also be discussed. Submissions, including original papers and reviews, focusing on molecular studies in biology and chemistry with a strong emphasis on molecular biology and molecular medicine are welcome.

Dr. Akkouch Adil
Guest Editor

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• osteoarthritis
• gene therapy
• bioink formulations
• 3D bioprinting
• gene delivery