Sánchez-Porras, DavidDurand-Herrera, DanielPaes, Ana B.Chato-Astrain, JesúsVerplancke, RikVanfleteren, JanSánchez-López, José DaríoGarcía-García, Óscar DaríoCampos, FernandoCarriel, Víctor2022-09-272022-09-272021-03-12Sánchez-Porras D, Durand-Herrera D, Paes AB, Chato-Astrain J, Verplancke R, Vanfleteren J, et al. Ex Vivo Generation and Characterization of Human Hyaline and Elastic Cartilaginous Microtissues for Tissue Engineering Applications. Biomedicines. 2021 Mar 12;9(3):292.http://hdl.handle.net/10668/4151Considering the high prevalence of cartilage-associated pathologies, low self-repair capacity and limitations of current repair techniques, tissue engineering (TE) strategies have emerged as a promising alternative in this field. Three-dimensional culture techniques have gained attention in recent years, showing their ability to provide the most biomimetic environment for the cells under culture conditions, enabling the cells to fabricate natural, 3D functional microtissues (MTs). In this sense, the aim of this study was to generate, characterize and compare scaffold-free human hyaline and elastic cartilage-derived MTs (HC-MTs and EC-MTs, respectively) under expansion (EM) and chondrogenic media (CM). MTs were generated by using agarose microchips and evaluated ex vivo for 28 days. The MTs generated were subjected to morphometric assessment and cell viability, metabolic activity and histological analyses. Results suggest that the use of CM improves the biomimicry of the MTs obtained in terms of morphology, viability and extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis with respect to the use of EM. Moreover, the overall results indicate a faster and more sensitive response of the EC-derived cells to the use of CM as compared to HC chondrocytes. Finally, future preclinical in vivo studies are still needed to determine the potential clinical usefulness of these novel advanced therapy products.enAtribución 4.0 Internacionalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/MicrotissuesTissue engineeringHuman hyaline chondrocytesHuman elastic chondrocytesExtracellular matrixOrganoidsElastic cartilageHyaline cartilageIngeniería de tejidosMatriz extracelularOrganoidesCartílago elásticoCartílago hialinoMedical Subject Headings::Organisms::Eukaryota::Animals::Chordata::Vertebrates::Mammals::Primates::Haplorhini::Catarrhini::Hominidae::HumansMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Cells::Connective Tissue Cells::ChondrocytesMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Culture Techniques::Cell Engineering::Tissue EngineeringMedical Subject Headings::Chemicals and Drugs::Carbohydrates::Polysaccharides::SepharoseMedical Subject Headings::Phenomena and Processes::Cell Physiological Phenomena::Cell Physiological Processes::Cell SurvivalMedical Subject Headings::Disciplines and Occupations::Natural Science Disciplines::Biological Science Disciplines::Biotechnology::BiomimeticsMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Musculoskeletal System::Cartilage::Elastic CartilageMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Musculoskeletal System::Cartilage::Hyaline CartilageMedical Subject Headings::Analytical, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Techniques and Equipment::Investigative Techniques::Epidemiologic Methods::Data Collection::Vital Statistics::Morbidity::PrevalenceMedical Subject Headings::Anatomy::Cells::Cellular Structures::Extracellular Space::Extracellular MatrixMedical Subject Headings::Psychiatry and Psychology::Psychological Phenomena and Processes::Psychophysiology::Arousal::AttentionEx Vivo Generation and Characterization of Human Hyaline and Elastic Cartilaginous Microtissues for Tissue Engineering Applicationsresearch article33809387open access10.3390/biomedicines90302922227-9059PMC8001313