Langer and Vacanti characterized tissue engineering (TE) in the early 1990s as "an interdisciplinary area that uses engineering and life science ideas to the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function". The goal of TE is to trigger tissue-specific regeneration mechanisms, overcoming the well-known difficulties of organ transplantation (i.e., donor shortage, need of immunosuppressive therapy). Biomaterials are essential in tissue engineering because they allow cells or growth agents to be delivered efficiently. Biomaterials can be used as carriers to transport cells to a desired location and induce local tissue regeneration, as barriers to protect transplanted cells or tissues from host immune response, or as reactors to drive host cell recruitment, homing, and differentiation. An optimal biomaterial for tissue engineering should have a high cell survival rate, proper cell function after transplantation, and the ability to promote autologous functional tissue growth in situ, as well as its own deterioration when therapy is completed.
Title : Graphene, butterfly structures, and stem cells: A revolution in surgical implants
Alexander Seifalian, University of London, United Kingdom
Title : Eliminating implants infections with nanomedicine: Human results
Thomas J Webster, Interstellar Therapeutics, United States
Title : Precision in cartilage repair: Breakthroughs in biofabrication process optimization
Pedro Morouco, Polytechnic of Leiria, Portugal
Title : Biodistribution and gene targeting in regenerative medicine
Nagy Habib, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
Title : Innovative educational strategies in tissue engineering: Integrating research into higher education
Laurie Mans, University of Applied Biosciences Leiden, Netherlands
Title : Keratin-TMAO wound dressing promote tissue recovery in diabetic rats via activation of M2 macrophages
Marek Konop, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland