Functional tissue engineering of cartilage and myocardium: Bioreactor aspects

Abstract

Tissue engineering combines the principles of biology, engineering, and medicine to create functional grafts capable of repairing native tissue following a congenital deformity, disease, or trauma. Engineered tissues can provide high-fidelity models for basic studies of cell function and tissue development, and responses to genetic alterations, drugs, hypoxia, and physical stimuli. The overall objective of tissue engineering is the restoration of normal tissue function. Ideally, lost or damaged tissue should be replaced by an engineered graft that can reestablish appropriate structure, composition, cell signaling, and key function(s) of the native tissue. In light of this paradigm, the clinical utility of tissue engineering will likely depend on our ability to replicate the site-specific properties of the tissue being replaced across different size scales and establish the specific differentiated cell phenotype, the composition, architectural organization, and biomechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM), and provide the continuity and strength of the interface with the neighboring host tissues.