Chapter 4 - Application of nanobiomaterials in soft tissue engineering

Abstract

Tissue engineering (TE) is a contemporary research topic as it is a promising future approach for the treatment of chronic, acute, and congenital diseases. Soft TE is primarily aimed to combat clinical conditions like neuronal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cartilage and ligament disorders, skin burns, and skin wounds. In the past few decades, natural and synthetic nanostructured materials have been actively investigated in biomedical applications including TE termed as nanobiomaterials. Various nanobiomaterials have been studied in fabricating complex structures of soft tissues as they can mimic the dimensions of natural tissues or organs when compared with micron-sized materials. They are biodegradable, biocompatible, nontoxic, nonimmunogenic, with biomimetic mechanical and electrical properties, and can form a macroporous structure with high surface area, which is very much crucial in generating tissue scaffolds. Collagen, chitosan, silk, poly-ε-caprolactone, poly(l-lactic acid), polylactic-co-poly(glycolic acid), and several other nanobiomaterials have been used in soft TE. The current chapter gives an account on nanobiomaterials used in soft tissue repair or regeneration with their recent advances and future challenges.