Research advances in repair of growth plate injury

Growth plate, the developmental center of endochondral osteogenesis, can be divided morphologically and functionally into a resting zone, a proliferative zone, a prehypertrophic zone and a hypertrophic zone. Injuries to growth plate often lead to bone growth defects including limb length discrepancy and angulation deformity in children. Currently, their orthopedic corrective surgeries are invasive and limitedly effective and no effective biotherapy has been available. Previous studies on animal models of growth plate damage have investigated the related cellular and molecular events in the repair of damaged growth plates in the 4 distinct inflammatory, fibrogenic, osteogenic and remodeling phases. Related molecules involved in the regulation of the above processes, such as inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor alpha, mitogenic platelet-derived growth factor and bone morphogenetic protein, are found to participate in the regulation of growth plate injury. Exploration of the mechanisms may provide new targets for biotherapy. In addition, development of cartilage tissue engineering, especially application of mesenchymal stem cells, also provides potential interventions for growth plate injury. Key words: Tissue engineering; Wounds and injuries; Bone marrow cells; Growth plate; Chondrogenesis