Electrochemical sensor for assessing the accumulation of extracellular matrix in cultured chondrospheres

The degeneration of cartilage in articular joints is a significant medical concern due to its high incidence rate. Damaged articular cartilage has a limited ability to regenerate naturally and thus often requires regenerative therapy. Intra-articular matrix-associated autologous chondrocyte transplantation, which involves the introduction of chondrocytes into the damaged area either as part of tissue-engineered constructs with a carrier matrix (scaffold) or in the form of tissue spheroids (chondrospheres), is generally considered the gold standard for treating such defects. This approach is probably the most biomimetic restorative articular cartilage treatment in the sense that it supports the cells in spheroids to produce and accumulate their own extracellular matrix. The growing interest in large-scale production of such biomedical cellular products raises the question of accessible and effective methods for assessing the quality of obtained chondrospheres, both in terms of their chemical composition and biological properties. Here, a sensor prototype based on comparative electrochemical profiling of chondrospheres is proposed for quantitative assessment of the accumulation of extracellular matrix components in hyaline cartilage.