Hollow organs and tissue systems drive various functions in the body. Many of these hollow or tubular systems, such as vasculature, the intestines, and the trachea, are common targets for tissue engineering, given their relevance to numerous diseases and body functions. As the field of tissue engineering has developed, numerous benchtop models have been produced as platforms for basic science and drug testing. Production of tubular scaffolds for different tissue engineering applications possesses many commonalities, such as the necessity for producing an intact tubular opening and for formation of semi-permeable epithelia or endothelia. As such, the field has converged on a series of manufacturing techniques for producing these structures. In this review, we discuss some of the most common tissue engineered applications within the context of tubular tissues and the methods by which these structures can be produced. We provide an overview of the general structure and anatomy for these tissue systems along with a series of general design criteria for tubular tissue engineering. We categorize methods for manufacturing tubular scaffolds as follows: casting, electrospinning, rolling, 3D printing, and decellularization. We discuss state-of-the-art models within the context of vascular, intestinal, and tracheal tissue engineering. Finally, we conclude with a discussion of the future for these fields.

A direct transfer of a cell sheet from a culture surface to a target tissue is introduced. Commercially available, flexible parylene is used as the culture surface, and it is proposed that the UV‐treated parylene offers adequate and intermediate levels of cell adhesiveness for both the stable cell attachment during culture and for the efficient cell transfer to a target surface. The versatility of this cell‐transfer process is demonstrated with various cell types, including MRC‐5, HDFn, HULEC‐5a, MC3T3‐E1, A549, C2C12 cells, and MDCK‐II cells. The novel cell‐sheet engineering is based on a mechanism of interfacial cell migration between two surfaces with different adhesion preferences. Monitoring of cytoskeletal dynamics and drug treatments during the cell‐transfer process reveals that the interfacial cell migration occurs by utilizing the existing transmembrane proteins on the cell surface to bind to the targeted surface. The re‐establishment and reversal of cell polarity after the transfer process are also identified. Its unique capabilities of 3D multilayer stacking, freeform design, and curved surface application are demonstrated. Finally, the therapeutic potential of the cell‐sheet delivery system is demonstrated by applying it to cutaneous wound healing and skin‐tissue regeneration in mice models.

Digestion is a fundamentally important process for an individual's life. However, the physical process of digestion is hidden inside the body, making it challenging to understand and a particularly difficult topic for students to learn in the classroom. Traditional approaches to teaching body processes include a mixture of textbook teaching and visual learning. However, digestion is not particularly visual. This activity is designed to engage students using a combination of visual, inquiry-based, and experiential learning approaches and introduces the scientific method to students in secondary school. The laboratory simulates digestion, creating a "stomach" inside of a clear vial. Students fill the vials with a protease solution and visually observe the digestion of food. By making predictions about the types of biomolecules that will be digested, students begin to learn and understand basic biochemistry in a relatable context, while simultaneously understanding anatomical and physiological concepts. We trialled this activity at two schools, where we received positive feedback from teachers and students, indicating that the practical enhanced student understanding of the digestion process. We see this lab as a valuable learning activity that can be extended broadly across multiple classrooms around the world.

and co-workers introduce a novel celldelivery approach based on the natural interfacial migration of living cells between two surfaces. This method does not require any external stimulation such as temperature, physical force, or chemical cues, and enables 3D multilayer stacking, freeform design, and curved surface application.