A team of Toronto-based scientists has been able to generate cartilage tissue from human stem cells.
The team from the was able to direct human stem cells to produce the specific cells that make the cartilage that lines our joints, known as articular chondrocytes.
Articular chondrocytes provide the cushioning in our joints that starts to deteriorate when a person develops osteoarthritis.
The team's findings were published Tuesday in the journal .
One of the lead scientists, Dr. Gordon Keller, said his team was able to essentially develop a type of "recipe" to direct the stem cells into chondrocytes. These chondrocytes were eventually used to generate cartilage.
"You first take the cells to make chondrocytes, then you coax them to make a little piece of cartilage in the petri dish, and that was really the essence of the discovery," he told CTV's Canada AM.
The centre said in a statement that the discovery can lead to future research and treatment options for osteoarthritis patients.
"With these advances, it is now possible to produce an unlimited supply of chondrocytes and cartilage tissue for studying how osteoarthritis develops and for creating new regenerative medicine-based therapies for treating patients with cartilage damage that would otherwise lead to joint replacement surgery," the statement said.
Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, affecting about one in 10 Canadian adults. There is no cure for osteoarthritis, but if diagnosed early, patients can start treatment to delay or avoid damage to their joints.
But now, with the team's discovery, it may be possible to eventually generate new cartilage to cushion the joint, Keller said.
"The thought for the future is that at some point we may be able to either build cartilage to replace it, or use the cells to make more cartilage," he said.
He added that scientists can also use the generated cartilage to study the early onset of osteoarthritis, a process that's commonly called "studying a disease in a dish" in the scientific community.
Up next, the team will be expanding to include research groups across the country and the world to determine if the generated cartilage can be used in animal models, Keller said.
