Aligned Biomimetic Scaffolds as a New Tendency in Tissue Engineering

Ideal scaffolds for tissue engineering should have the same characteristics and morphology as the tissue. However, the microstructure of many native tissues has anisotropic characteristics, and the extracellular matrix has an orderly arrangement. Thus, aligned biomimetic scaffolds, a class of directional scaffolds, were proposed and researched to further mimic the permutations of tissue. This review covers the biomaterials, technology for the aligned biomimetic scaffolds and applications in tissue engineering. The aligned biomimetic scaffolds are extremely promising for tissue engineering because they can align the directions of cell growth, affect gene expression and significantly enhance cell reprogramming efficiency.