Multicomponent and multifunctional tissue engineering scaffolds

Abstract

The regeneration of human body tissues are complex and complicated, involving participations of multiple cells, extracellular matrix (ECM) and bio-signals as well as their interactions. For promoting tissue regeneration, different tissue engineering strategies have been investigated by many researchers. Scaffold-based tissue engineering, which employs highly porous scaffolds formed by using suitable biomaterials and appropriate fabrication techniques as artificial ECM, has played a dominant role in the tissue engineering field. Due to complexity in the tissue regeneration process and different requirements for specific regenerative therapy, multiple functions are required for advanced tissue engineering scaffolds, which are expected to provide comprehensive structural, physical and biochemical cues for better controlling cell behaviour and for enhancing tissue regeneration. Based on our research, this talk briefly reviews tissue engineering materials and scaffold manufacturing technologies, outlines multiple requirements for tissue engineering scaffolds, presents designs of multifunctional scaffolds, and shows cases for developing multicomponent and multifunctional scaffolds.