Micro-Scale Approaches in Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering: Advances and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

The field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) has dramatically advanced in the last 20 years, giving the potential for regenerating almost every tissue and organ of the human body. TERM aims at the design of functional three-dimensional constructs able to properly guide cell behavior for tissue/organ regeneration or modelling.

Human tissues are complex systems comprising cells subjected to multiple and dynamic stimuli that change in time and space. Typical signals are direct cell–cell contacts, gradients of cytokines and secreted proteins from neighboring cells, and biochemical and mechanical interactions with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Different organs and tissues are characterized by a hierarchical structure with complex organization of these elements, giving rise to unique arrangements.

TERM has taken advantage of an interdisciplinary approach involving aspects of cell biology, biomaterials science, surface functionalization and characterization, and cell–material interactions often integrated in microfabricated systems to accurately reproduce the complexity of in vivo microenvironments, including ECM organization and other tissue features (e.g., electrical stimuli, mechanical stress). The microscale design of cell culture environments has the potential to allow controllable and reproducible cell organization following tissue-specific cues.

The topics to be covered in this issue include advanced microtechnologies applied to the TERM field, such as the following:

• microhydrogel
• microfluidic systems
• micro-controlled surface and interface pattern
• microbioreactors
• microfabrication of 2D and 3D scaffolds
• micro-carriers for drug release
• micro-systems for the cell adhesion
• single-cell stimulation
• cell microenvironments

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in IJMS.

Prof. Dr. Valeria Chiono
Prof. Dr. Irene Carmagnola
Dr. Alice Zoso
Guest Editors

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• microscale
• scaffold
• TERM
• surface characterization
• hydrogel
• drug release
• biomimetics