AccScience Publishing / IJB / Volume 12 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.36922/IJB025430430
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REVIEW ARTICLE

Application and prospects of chitosan-based 3D-printed scaffolds in the repair of osteochondral defects

Jiahui Liang1,2† ,  Jiyang Zou1† ,  Yuqing He1† ,  Jiyuan Qi1 ,  Yihan Wang1 ,  Zhaoyang Liu1 ,  Weiguo Zhang1 ,  Duo Zhang3 ,  Xiaolin Cui3* ,  Xing Wang2* ,  Kang Tian1*
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1 Department of Joint and Sports Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, China
2 Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
3 School of Medicine, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
IJB 2026, 12(1), 102–124; https://doi.org/10.36922/IJB025430430
Received: 20 October 2025 | Accepted: 26 November 2025 | Published online: 1 December 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Osteochondral defects, which involve injury to both the articular cartilage and the underlying subchondral bone, present a considerable therapeutic challenge due to cartilage’s poor intrinsic capacity for regeneration and the intricate, gradient structure of the osteochondral junction. Tissue engineering offers a promising strategy for regenerating this biphasic tissue. Chitosan has attracted significant research interest due to its favorable biocompatibility, controlled degradability, natural antibacterial activity, and structural resemblance to endogenous glycosaminoglycans. Integrating chitosan with 3D printing allows the production of scaffolds with customizable structures, porosity, and mechanical properties tailored to patient needs. Moreover, chitosan can easily be blended with various natural polymers to develop composite bioinks that improve osteogenic and chondrogenic potential, thereby enhancing the functional performance of scaffolds. This review examines research literature spanning January 2020 to October 2025. Recent advances include the development of functionalized chitosan derivatives for improved printability and crosslinking, as well as the incorporation of cells and growth factors to create bioactive, cell-laden constructs. This review provides an extensive overview of the physicochemical and biological characteristics of chitosan pertinent to osteochondral regeneration, discusses diverse 3D printing strategies utilized to construct chitosan-based composite scaffolds, and emphasizes their demonstrated potential in improving cellular responses, stimulating bone and cartilage formation, supporting biomineralization, and achieving controlled delivery of bioactive agents. Finally, we discuss current challenges, such as optimizing scaffold degradation kinetics and vascularization, and future perspectives on the clinical translation of these innovative constructs for effective osteochondral regeneration.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
3D-printed
Chitosan
Osteochondral defect
Scaffold
Funding
This work is supported by the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (L244037), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.81601901), the Natural Science Foundation of Liaoning, China (No.2019-MS-079), the Peak Climbing Program, Dalian (No.2022DF012), and the Dalian Science and Technology Innovation Fund (No.2023JJ13SN051). Xiaolin Cui would like to acknowledge the support from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)-Practical Biotech Joint Laboratory Fund, the University Development Fund (UDF01002532) of The CUHK, Shenzhen, the CUHK Shenzhen start-up funding (K10120220254), the Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone for Technology and Innovation (HZQB-KCZYB-2020056), the Shenzhen Peacock Talent Program, the key project at central government level: The Ability Establishment of Sustainable Use for Valuable Chinese Medicine Resources (2060302), the Ministry of Science and Technology of China’s International Young Scholar Grant (QN2023032004L), and the CUHK, Shenzhen University, and Affiliated Hospital Collaboration Fund (HUUF-ZD-202305).
Conflict of interest
The author declares no conflict of interest, financial or otherwise.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing
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