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Regenerative medicine

Cartilage transplants hold promise for challenging bone defects

Unmet needs in fracture healing have led investigators to question existing paradigms in the hopes of uncovering overlooked solutions. Such is the case in a recent study showing that introduction of a cartilage construct into a mouse tibial defect induces remarkable healing owing to the transformation of donor chondrocytes into new bone.

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Figure 1: Cartilage grafts for segmental defect healing.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are supported by NIH grants P30 AR061307; P50 AR054041; and R01 DE019902.

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Correspondence to Edward M. Schwarz.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Nishitani, K., Schwarz, E. Cartilage transplants hold promise for challenging bone defects. Nat Rev Rheumatol 10, 129–130 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2013.216

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