Tuning Phage for Cartilage Regeneration

Abstract

The ever-broadening scope of phage research has left behind the simplistic view of studying phages as just model systems in phage biology to a much broader application ranging from ecological management to immunity. Improved throughput technology in crystallography and structural studies has helped our understanding of these systems as supramolecular machines that possess the capacity of self-assembly. The idea of phages as self-assembling supramolecular nano-machines that are bioactive biomaterials in characteristics, tunable and easily producible have lent its utility to recent fields such as regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Due to low metabolic activity and slow nutrient diffusion within cartilage, damage to this tissue often inevitably consist of slow and delayed regeneration and healing, the restriction of blood from reaching most part of this tissue and the resultant limitations in the availability of oxygen and other essential amino acids dictates a very slow systemic metabolic response also since transports system in this tissue have to employ less speedy forms. Cartilage regeneration therefore is a huge challenge. This chapter takes a look at the application of the phage display technology in cartilage tissue regeneration.