Redefining tissue engineering for nanomedicine

Abstract

Working at the nanoscale means to completely rethink how to approach engineering in the body in general and in the eye in particular. In nanomedicine, tissue engineering is the ability to influence an environment either by adding, subtracting or manipulating that environment to allow it to be more conducive for its purpose. The goal is to function at the optimum state, or to return to that optimum state. Additive tissue engineering replaces cells or tissue, or tries to get something to grow that is no longer there. Arrestive tissue engineering tries to stop aberrant growth which, if left uncontrolled, would result in a decrease in function. Nano delivery of therapeutics can perform both additive and arrestive functions influencing the environment either way, depending on the targeting. By manipulating the environment at the nanoscale, the rate and distribution of healing can be controlled. It infers that potential applications of nanomedicine in ophthalmology include procedures, such as corneal endothelial cell transplantation, single retinal ganglion cell repair, check of retinal ganglion cell viability, building of nanofibre scaffolds, such as self-assembling peptides, to create a scaffold-like tissue-bridging structure to provide a framework for axonal regeneration in the case of optic nerve reconnection or eye transplantation, and ocular drug delivery. Examples of potential arrestive therapies include gene-related treatment modalities to inhibit intraocular neovascularization and to block retinal cell apoptosis. Looking towards the future, this review focuses on how nanoscale tissue engineering can be and is being used to influence that local environment.