Adult Stem Cells and Nanomaterials for Skeletal Tissue Engineering and Regeneration

Abstract

Understanding nanobiology and application of nanotechnology is important in regenerative medicine, since nanoscale materials are the basic functional subunits of cells and tissues. Stem/progenitor cells are a promising candidate cell type in tissue engineering and regeneration, because of their expandability and multi‐differentiation potential. A key requirement in tissue engineering is the three‐dimensionality of the "regenerate tissue", particularly for weight‐bearing musculoskeletal tissues. The challenges in skeletal tissue engineering and regeneration and the application of adult stem cells and nanomaterial scaffolds will be presented. The biology of human mesenchymal stem cells, e.g., proliferation vs differentiation, is intricately regulated by cell‐cell interactions, signaling by extracellular biofactors, and transcriptional and epigenetic events. Architectural and structure‐dependent cues provided by the matrix also guide cell‐based tissue morphogenesis. We have developed biomimetic, biodegradable nanofibrous biomaterial scaffolds for cell‐based tissue engineering. The fabrication and biological basis of the scale‐dependent bioactivities of nanofibrous scaffolds will be presented, as well as their application for cartilage tissue engineering, including articular cartilage and intervertebral disc. (Support: NIH AR Z01 41131)