Handbook of Intelligent Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.

2nd Edition

Abstract

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) has the role to manipulate the extracellular environment of cells inherently present in the body to enhance their biological potentials for tissue generation. TERM offers, therefore, an alternative technique to whole-organ and tissue transplantation for diseased, failed, or malfunctioning organs by the use of specialized scaffolds. Thus, porous
matrices are generally employed as scaffolds for tissue-engineering purposes, promoting cell adhesion and proliferation by their microporous structure, which may incorporate relevant biological sequences. Naturally, to reach this goal it is necessary a properly designed scaffold architecture which, characterized for its specific micro structures with proper biochemical and physical properties, has dimensions comparable to the size of cells. Scaffolds can also be designed using naturally occurring proteins, such as collagen, gelatin, alginate, chitin etc, all of which favour and support cell adhesion and proliferation, being ECM-component molecules. The extra cellular matrix (ECM) structure and its molecules, in fact, are essential for most cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, migration, and survival. Moreover, these molecules play a fundamental role in the development, homeostasis, and repair of tissues. Thus, ECM is a dynamic and multifactor network that surrounds cells, providing structural and mechanical support in all tissues. It mediates diverse biological processes that, crucial for tissue formation and function, play an important role in wound healing, activating intercellular signalling pathways also. Therefore, regenerative medicine has successfully assumed ECM molecules as promising biomaterials for tissue engineering. Naturally, any biomaterial is also evaluated for its capacity to induce the production
of pro-inflammatory mediators and is tested with regard to the immune response that it may trigger.