A strategy for the development of tissue engineering scaffolds that regulate cell behavior.

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Cellular scaffolds mimic the in vivo extracellular matrix (ECM), providing crucial microenvironmental cues.
• Developing ideal scaffolds is essential for maintaining cell function, regulating cell behavior, and reconstructing three-dimensional multicellular masses (3-DMMs).

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the development of ideal cellular scaffolds for various tissue engineering applications.
• To present four novel culture technologies for scaffold material development.
• To highlight innovations addressing the design of 3-DMMs with hierarchical tissue architectures.

Main Methods:

• Preparation of multicellular spheroids using thermo-responsive polymers.
• Development of a medium circulating system with cotton-gauze for 3-D multicellular mass (3-DRMM) reconstruction.
• Concept for organ engineering involving a three-step perfusion to remodel cellular scaffolds.
• Concept for cellomics studies using tissue/organ sections as substrata (TOSHI-substratum).

Main Results:

• The review presents four distinct scaffold development technologies.
• Early technologies focused on spheroid and 3-DRMM preparation.
• Later innovations, including organ engineering and TOSHI-substratum, address the design of hierarchical tissue architectures.

Conclusions:

• Novel scaffold technologies have been developed to overcome limitations in designing complex 3-DMMs.
• The presented methods offer advanced approaches for cell behavior regulation and tissue reconstruction.
• Future directions involve converting in vivo tissue architecture into in vitro three-dimensional culture modes.