Commentary: engineering of tissue healing and regeneration

Regenerative medicine aims to restore homeostasis of diseased tissues and organs. With time, engineered replacement tissue constructs will play an increasingly important role in achieving this goal. Equally important, however, will be the ability to resolve disease-associated inflammation and to optimize tissue regenerative capacity by specifically patterning the host tissue microenvironment. The tools of bioengineering are uniquely suited to meet these challenges. Here, the candidate molecular and cellular targets for manipulating the host's inflammatory environment and tissue regenerative capacity are briefly discussed within the context of current and emerging bioengineering strategies. The objective is to draw the attention of basic scientists and engineers to the importance of regulating inflammation in achieving the goals of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.