Engineering Biological Tissues from the Bottom-Up: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Tissue engineering aims to address organ shortages through in vitro culture of tissues like blood vessels, heart, and bone.
• Traditional top-down tissue engineering faces significant hurdles in vascularization and reconfigurable functional units.
• Emerging micro-nano and biomaterial technologies are paving the way for advanced tissue engineering strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe advances in bottom-up tissue engineering for modular organ and tissue reconstruction.
• To review techniques for fabricating and assembling living blocks into higher-order bioarchitectures.
• To critically evaluate the current state of bottom-up tissue engineering, including challenges and future prospects.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of living blocks using micro-nano and biomaterial technologies.
• Assembly techniques for creating complex, higher-order bioarchitectures from living blocks.
• Critical review and analysis of existing literature and technological advancements.

Main Results:

• Detailed overview of recent progress in bottom-up tissue engineering approaches.
• Identification of key fabrication and assembly techniques for creating functional tissue constructs.
• Discussion of the potential of bottom-up strategies to overcome limitations of traditional methods.

Conclusions:

• Bottom-up tissue engineering presents a promising paradigm for overcoming vascularization and reconfigurability challenges in tissue engineering.
• Advances in micro-nano and biomaterial technologies are crucial for the successful fabrication and assembly of living blocks.
• Further research and development are needed to address practical challenges and realize the full potential of this approach for organ and tissue reconstruction.