Cartilage injuries are typically caused by trauma, chronic overload, and autoimmune diseases. Owing to the avascular structure and low metabolic activities of chondrocytes, cartilage generally does not self-repair following an injury. Currently, clinical interventions for cartilage injuries include chondrocyte implantation, microfracture, and osteochondral transplantation. However, rather than restoring cartilage integrity, these methods only postpone further cartilage deterioration. Stem cell therapies, especially mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) therapies, were found to be a feasible strategy in the treatment of cartilage injuries. MSCs can easily be isolated from mesenchymal tissue and be differentiated into chondrocytes with the support of chondrogenic factors or scaffolds to repair damaged cartilage tissue. In this review, we highlighted the full success of cartilage repair using MSCs, or MSCs in combination with chondrogenic factors and scaffolds, and predicted their pros and cons for prospective translation to clinical practice.

软骨损伤通常由外伤、慢性超负荷和自身免疫性疾病引起。由于软骨细胞的无血管结构和低代谢活性，软骨在受伤后通常不会自我修复。目前，临床上针对软骨损伤的干预措施包括软骨细胞植入、微骨折和骨软骨移植等。然而，这些方法并不能恢复软骨的完整性，只能推迟软骨的进一步恶化。干细胞疗法，特别是间充质干细胞（MSC）疗法，被发现是治疗软骨损伤的可行策略。间充质干细胞可以很容易地从间充质组织中分离出来，并在成软骨因子或支架的支持下分化为软骨细胞，从而修复受损的软骨组织。在这篇综述中，我们强调了使用间充质干细胞或间充质干细胞与软骨形成因子和支架相结合进行软骨修复的完全成功，并预测了它们在临床实践中的利弊。