Improving the Use of Stem-Cell Therapy in Horses with Cartilage Defects

Cartilage damage is a problem for all horses, and athletic horses are especially prone to cartilage injury and disease at an early age. Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-based therapies hold great promise for healing articular cartilage defects, but currently available MSCs are unable to stimulate long-term cartilage healing. The investigators will optimize a technique for inducing MSCs to rapidly turn into cartilage cells in the laboratory, in a manner in which the cells can then be stored and/or administered to horses using minimally invasive techniques. They will also evaluate whether cartilage differentiation can be achieved without inducing immune sensitivity, which would be favorable for donor applications. If successful in the study cases, this approach could be a potential treatment for all horses with focal cartilage defects.