Advancement of lung tissue engineering: an overview

Abstract

Lung diseases can be classified as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD), pulmonary fibrosis and sarcoidosis as well as lung cancer. Current conventional treatment therapies for lung diseases are associated with various drawbacks. The field of Tissue Engineering (TE) is relatively new discipline that offers the potential to create de novo structures and may grant substitutes to replace damaged organs and tissues. This review gives a brief account of lung diseases and debates the research findings as well as the recent developments of TE lung with particular emphasis on the regeneration of alveolar-like structures. Selection of cell sources and the use of biological and synthetic materials as extracellular matrix derivatives and exogenous simulations of tissue growth within specified Three Dimensional (3D) scaffold structures are presented and discussed. Moreover, the critical challenges involved in developing an alternative tissue engineering heart lung and the future directions are also given. Finally, the paper proposes a novel concept of “the breathing scaffold”, which could facilitate the growth of the cells into a 3D alveolar structure while maintaining their gas exchange.