To investigate the repairing effect of fibrochondrocyte collagen construct in meniscus lesion, fibrochondrocytes were isolated and expanded in vitro , then seeded onto collagen construct .18 dogs with wedged shape lesion in the lateral meniscus were randomly divided into 3 groups: the lesion were filled with either cell collagen construct or collagen or untreated. The lateral meniscus was then examined grossly and histologically at different periods. The results showed that the lesions that had been filled with fibrochondrocyte collagen construct healed with fibrocartilage tissue. The results suggest that tissue engineering method is practical.

To investigate the behavior of meniscal fibrocartilage cells in vitro ,human meniscal fibrocartilage cells were harvested from adolescents and sequentially digestied with 0 50% trypsin and 0 2% collagenase (type2). The isolated cells were cultured in Ham'sF 12 medium and identified by histochemical methods. Cell proliferation, morphology and ultrastructure were observed by phase contrast microscope and electronic microscope. In primarily cultured cells, fusiform cells dominated and they were confirmed by the positive result of immunohistochemical examination for type collagen staining. Our results indicate that it is a simple and highly effective method.