Adipose tissue engineering for soft tissue regeneration

Current treatment modalities for soft tissue defects caused by various pathologies and trauma include autologous grafting and commercially available fillers. However, these treatment methods present a number of challenges and limitations, such as donor-site morbidity and volume loss over time. As such, improved therapeutic modalities need to be developed. Tissue engineering techniques offer novel solutions to these problems through development of bioactive tissue constructs that can regenerate adipose tissue in both structure and function. Recently, a number of studies have been designed to explore various methods to engineer human adipose tissue. This review will focus on these developments in the area of adipose tissue engineering for soft tissue replacement. The physiology of adipose tissue and current surgical therapies used to replace lost tissue volume, specifically in breast tissue, are introduced, and current biomaterials, cell sources, and tissue culture strategies are discussed. We discuss future areas of study in adipose tissue engineering.