Recent Advances in Mechanobiology-Mediated In Situ Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering aims to repair, replace, or regenerate damaged tissues by integrating principles of biology, engineering, and material science. Traditional ex vivo strategies, involving prefabricated cell/scaffold constructs followed by implantation, have shown promise but face significant limitations, including poor vascularization, immune rejection, high costs, and clinical translation challenges. These limitations have driven the emergence of in situ tissue engineering, which harnesses the body's intrinsic regenerative capacity by recruiting endogenous stem or progenitor cells to sites of injury for repair. A key requirement for successful in situ regeneration is the design of biomimetic three-dimensional scaffolds capable of delivering bioactive molecules such as growth factors and cytokines in a controlled and spatiotemporal manner. In addition to biochemical cues, mechanobiology plays a central role by regulating cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, and differentiation through mechanotransduction pathways involving cytoskeletal remodeling, extracellular matrix (ECM) dynamics, and nuclear signaling. This review highlights mechanobiology-mediated strategies, scaffold designs, and applications for hard and soft tissue repair, as well as challenges and future directions in regenerative medicine.