Table 2.

Commonly used scaffold biomaterials in cartilage tissue engineering

Scaffold Class	Scaffolding Material	Advantages	Disadvantages	Examples
Protein-based	Fibrin	Naturally occurring material, low toxicity Decreased cost Promotes cell adhesion and migration Biodegradable	Poor mechanical strength
	Collagen	Enhances cell adhesion Multiple, well-established processing technologies Biodegradable	Variable physical chemical properties Variable degradation properties Difficult to handle	NeoCart
Carbohydrate- based	Hyaluronic acid	Naturally occurring material, low toxicity Supports mesenchymal stem cell and epithelial cell migration Can fill irregular defects	Poor mechanical strength	Hyalograft C autograft
	Alginate	Abundantly available Naturally occurring Biodegradable	Slow degradation Poor mechanical strength Cannot be used as long-term implant
Synthetic polymers	Polylactic acid (PLA)	High tensile strength High modulus – able to bear loads Able to be made into different forms	Chain depolymerization due to monomer formation with excessive heating of PLA Local acidosis upon biodegradation	Kensey Nash Cartilage Repair Device
	Polyglycolic acid (PGA)	Good mechanical strength High modulus Natural degradation product (glycolic acid)	Rapid degradation Degradation product, glycolic acid, may cause local tissue acidosis
	Polycaprolactone (PCL)	Good osteoinductive potential Non-toxic degradation products Good mechanical properties	Releases acid upon degradation
	Polylactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA)	Enhanced mechanical strength compared to PLA or PGA alone Biodegradable and biocompatible Resistance to hydrolysis	Amorphous	TruFit
Bioceramics	Hydroxyapatite (Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2)	Bioactive material Forms a rapid and strong bond to bone	Difficult to shape scaffolds Stiff and brittle material	MaioRegen