[What's new in fundamental research: cartilage].

The localized defects of the articular cartilage of the knee are not rare, in particular concerning the femoral condyles. There is practically no potential for spontaneous repair of cartilage defects reaching the sub-chondral bone and any destruction of the articular cartilage, independently of its origin, is final. This destruction has significant consequences. Currently used techniques, such as Pridie perforation or mosaicplasty have demonstrated effectiveness, but also their limitations. Implantation of autologous chondrocytes constitutes the main alternative to current therapeutic approaches. Nevertheless, many problem persist and have led to research and development of a validated technique for autologous chondrocyte implantation using a biomaterial support. Chondrocyte transplantation on solid support is currently under study.