THE MENISCUS: BASIC SCIENCE TO IMPROVE KNOWLEDGE FOR TISSUE ENGINEERING

This thesis was thought with the intent to try to fill some lacunae in the knowledge of the anatomic-dependent features of the meniscus. In particular, the study of the effects of endogenous and exogenous factors upon the development of this structure will be outlined. Endogenous factors have been considered those factors that cannot be attributed to external or experimental factors: the effect of age and growth has been investigated focusing on the variation of the, matrix components (collagen types, GAGs and decorin), cellular phenotypic modifications and meniscal morpho-functional structure, with additional focus on possible differences presented in different animal models. On the other hand, exogenous factors have been considered those factors that are in any way attributable to the external interventions operated by the experimenter or by the application of forces upon meniscus. As exogenous factors, the effects of physiologic (compression and traction to which meniscus is naturally subjected) and non-physiologic (continuous compression without flexion) forces applied to meniscus during growth were evaluated. Furthermore, the effect of hypoxia in meniscal tissue-culture was also evaluated in a neonatal committed cell population in order to assess a faster maturation of the tissue. The importance of these investigations is linked to the possible application of these notions in the field of tissue engineering of the meniscus and may improve the current knowledge on the morpho-functional effect that external factors exercise on its structure.