“Stupp and his colleagues have created a type of injectable biomaterial that can regenerate the hyaline cartilage in joints. They described their invention in a study published Monday (Aug. 5) in the journal PNAS.

‘Our new therapy can induce repair in a tissue that does not naturally regenerate,’ Stupp said.

Once injected into a joint, a protein within the goo recruits a chemical in the body called transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-b1), which promotes cartilage repair. The goo also contains a type of complex carbohydrate, or polysaccharide, called hyaluronic acid, which can coax stem cells into forming cartilage.

The researchers tested the goo in sheep that had a type of cartilage defect in their stifle joint — a complex joint that resembles the human knee and is found in the upper back legs of four-legged animals.

Within six months of the one-time injection being delivered, the goo triggered noticeable cartilage growth and enhanced repair in the animals’ damaged joints. The new biomaterial performed better than injections of just TGF-b1, which were given to a comparison group of sheep. Importantly, the structure of the new cartilage in the sheep treated with the goo resembled that of hyaline cartilage, the team found.”

From Live Science.