Engineering Materials for Regenerative Medicine
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V. Prasad Shastri and Andreas Lendlein, Guest Editors Abstract The mammalian physiology represents a level of sophistication in materials design, assembly, and function that has yet to be replicated by the modern tools of materials science. Although, the building blocks of our body (pluripotent stem and progenitor cells) are still available within our tissues, the absence of the biological and structural cues that drove the development process early on, in an adult, limits our ability to regenerate after an injury. The goal of regenerative medicine is therefore to recapitulate embryonic events within an artificially defined materials space (i.e., the niche) so that the repair processes can be triggered using our reservoir of stem cells. This engineering of the regenerative niche will require an interdisciplinary exercise involving materials scientists, biologists, and clinicians. The success of this exercise will hinge on our ability to develop materials that incorporate principles of wound healing, lessons from immunology and developmental biology, and knowledge of cellular mechanics and molecular biology such that they can mimic the cellular environment, instruct cells to make fate decisions, and direct the hierarchical organization of tissues. This article presents the current state of this challenge in the implementation of regenerative therapies.
Introduction In recent years, the synthetic and analytical tools available to the materials scientist have expanded in scope and sophistication. Analytical techniques such as atomic force microscopy, scanning transmission electron microscopy, multiphoton fluorescence microscopy, and surface plasmon resonance have become commonplace and have vastly enhanced our capacity to probe, visualize, and quantify structures and properties of matter as well as processes within. The visualization of matter at different length scales, including atomic resolution, has provided us with unprecedented insights into the evolution of hierarchical structures. With this blueprint from nature, the past 10–15 years have seen an explosion of materials science inspired by (bioinspired) and mimicking (biomimetics) nature and has fostered the creation of materials with a greater degree of control over their micro- and nanostructure and their properties/functions.
Challenges in Regenerative Medicine Regenerating a tissue or organ requires the mimicry of nature at an extreme level.
The microscopic building blocks of tissues, namely the cells, possess intricate connections that serve as sensory elements, helping the cell feel and experience the biochemical and physical changes to its environment. In essence, replicating the cellular environment requires smart and responsive materials. The materials problem may be posed as a challenge in designing and implementing a materials space that embodies the following elements— biological signals, spatiotemporal gradients, and interactive and adaptive mechanics—to promote the geometric confinement of cells. Cells reside in a dynamic framework composed of
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