Cong B, Zhang FH, Zhang HG. Stem cell-based cartilage regeneration: Biological strategies, engineering innovations, and clinical translation. World J Stem Cells 2025; 17(9): 108523 [PMID: 41025101 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v17.i9.108523]
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03677825
Submitted on:
October 15, 2025, 08:47
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Reader Comments:
Cong et al. deliver a thorough and insightful overview of stem cell–driven cartilage regeneration, addressing the interdisciplinary progress achieved across biomaterials, cellular therapies, and translational research. Their review integrates recent developments in scaffold engineering, stem cell selection, and in vivo regeneration strategies, making it a valuable guide for researchers in this developing field. However, a few key aspects require more in-depth discussion to fully analyse the field’s complexity and clinical translation. For instance, extracellular vesicles—emerging as central mediators of regenerative signaling—warrant more detailed explanation regarding their standardization and underlying mechanisms. Expanding coverage of these areas would improve the depth of the review and strengthen its guidance toward improving reproducibility, safety, and durability in hyaline cartilage repair strategies based on stem cells. Overall, this comprehensive review by Cong et al. highlights that stem cell-based cartilage regeneration is a rapidly advancing and highly promising field, successfully bridging biological strategies and innovative engineering to offer definitive clinical solutions for challenging joint and cartilage defects.