Monitoring, Controlling, and Improving Engineered Tissues: Nanoscale Technologies and Devices for Tissue Engineering (original) (raw)

Tissue Engineering Approaches in the Design of Healthy and Pathological In Vitro Tissue Models

Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 2017

In the tissue engineering (TE) paradigm, engineering and life sciences tools are combined to develop bioartificial substitutes for organs and tissues, which can in turn be applied in regenerative medicine, pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and basic research to elucidate fundamental aspects of cell functions in vivo or to identify mechanisms involved in aging processes and disease onset and progression. The complex three-dimensional (3D) microenvironment in which cells are organized in vivo allows the interaction between different cell types and between cells and the extracellular matrix, the composition of which varies as a function of the tissue, the degree of maturation, and health conditions. In this context, 3D in vitro models can more realistically reproduce a tissue or organ than two-dimensional (2D) models. Moreover, they can overcome the limitations of animal models and reduce the need for in vivo tests, according to the "3Rs" guiding principles for a more ethical resea...

Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Nanomedicine

2019

Research Group, Univ. Minho, PT. Currently, he is a lecturer in the doctoral program of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and stem cells (TERM&SC) at UMinho, PT (since December 2013). He is also an invited lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, U. Porto (since September 2013) and Department of Polymer Engineering, UM, PT (2009-present). Over the years, he has focused his work on the field of biomaterials for tissue engineering, nanomedicine, stem cells, and cell/drug delivery. More recently, he set up a new research line within the ICVS/3B's on 3D in vitro models for cancer research. He has published more than 260 scientific contributions in scientific journals, of which four review papers were produced under invitation. He holds 16 approved patents and has published five books, two Special Issues in scientific journals, and more than 70 book chapters in books with international circulation. He has participated in more than 250 presentations in national/international conferences and has been invited and/or served as a keynote speaker in more than 40 plenary sessions. He has an h-index of 35 and an i10 of 84 and has been cited more than 5000 times. He has been awarded several prizes, including the prestigious 2015 Jean Leray Award from the European Society for Biomaterials for Young Scientists for Outstanding Contributions within the field of Biomaterials. He is very active in the elaboration and scientific coordination of several PT and international funded projects. In addition, he is a member of the advisory/editorial board of the

Biomed Res Int Cell Microenvironment Engineering and Monitoring for Tissue Engineering

In tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, the conditions in the immediate vicinity of the cells have a direct effect on cells' behaviour and subsequently on clinical outcomes. Physical, chemical, and biological control of cell microenvironment are of crucial importance for the ability to direct and control cell behaviour in 3-dimensional tissue engineering scaffolds spatially and temporally. In this review, we will focus on the different aspects of cell microenvironment such as surface micro-, nanotopography, extracellular matrix composition and distribution, controlled release of soluble factors, and mechanical stress/strain conditions and how these aspects and their interactions can be used to achieve a higher degree of control over cellular activities. The effect of these parameters on the cellular behaviour within tissue engineering context is discussed and how these parameters are used to develop engineered tissues is elaborated. Also, recent techniques developed for the monitoring of the cell microenvironment in vitro and in vivo are reviewed, together with recent tissue engineering applications where the control of cell microenvironment has been exploited. Cell microenvironment engineering and monitoring are crucial parts of tissue engineering efforts and systems which utilize different components of the cell microenvironment simultaneously can provide more functional engineered tissues in the near future.

Tissue Engineering: A Boon to Tissue Regeneration

Inventi Rapid: Pharm Biotech & Microbio, 2018

The artificial generation of tissues, organs or even more complex living organisms was throughout the history of mankind a matter of myth and dream. During the last decades this vision became feasible and has been recently introduced in clinical medicine. Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are terms in biomedical field that deal with the transformations. Tissue Engineering (TE) is a scientific field mainly focused on the development of tissue and organ substitutes by controlling biological, biophysical and/or biomechanical parameters in the laboratory. This results in elaboration of threedimensional cellular constructs with properties more similar to natural tissues than classical monolayer cultures. These systems enable the in-vitro study of human physiology and physiopathology more accurately, while providing a set of biomedical tools with potential applicability in toxicology, medical devices, tissue replacement, repair and regeneration. To succeed in these purposes, TE uses nature as an inspiration source for the generation of extracellular matrix analogues (scaffolds), either from natural or synthetic origin as well as bioreactors and bio-devices to mimic natural physiological conditions of particular tissues. These scaffolds embed cells in a three dimensional milieu that display signals critical for the determination of cellular fate, in terms of proliferation, differentiation and migration, among others. The aim of this review is to analyze the state of the art of TE and some of its application fields.