Combining Stem Cells and Biomaterial Scaffolds for Constructing Tissues and Cell Delivery

Abstract

Combining stem cells with biomaterial scaffolds serves as a promising strategy for engineering tissues for both in vitro and in vivo applications. This updated review details commonly used biomaterial scaffolds for engineering tissues from stem cells. We first define the different types of stem cells and their relevant properties and commonly used scaffold formulations. Next, we discuss natural and synthetic scaffold materials typically used when engineering tissues, along with their associated advantages and drawbacks and gives examples of target applications. New approaches to engineering tissues, such as 3D bioprinting, are described as they provide exciting opportunities for future work along with current challenges that must be addressed. Thus, this review provides an overview of the available biomaterials for directing stem cell differentiation as a means of producing replacements for diseased or damaged tissues.

Specific concentration of hyaluronan amide derivative induces osteogenic mineralization of human mesenchymal stromal cells: Evidence of RUNX2 and COL1A1 genes modulation

“…Moreover, our data confirmed that only HAD but not HYAL contribute to MSCs osteogenic differentiation suggesting that the chemicalphysical characteristics of HA products has a fundamental role in induction of mineralization. In particular, HAD is a hydrogel and the relevance of scaffold in form of gel for stem cell differentiation and maturation is widely reported (Willerth & Sakiyama-Elbert, 2008) and suggests its potential use also for encapsulating cells that could be injected directly in the bone defect to improve mineralization.…”

Electrochemical mapping of oxygenation in the three-dimensional multicellular tumour hemi-spheroid

“…These secondary spheroids are devoid of agarose yet they are visually indistinguishable from the parent MCH that was made with agarose (not shown). It is noted that agarose has been used successfully as a scaffold to support the growth of a range of different tissues for both research and clinical use [70]. Among others, stem cells cultured inside agarose scaffolds can form functional chondrocytes [71], cardiomyocytes [72] and neurons [73].…”

Building a Human Brain for Research

“…To begin to overcome the issues caused by such limitations in researching the human brain, scientists have coupled the recent advances in cell reprogramming and previous knowledge of the brain structure to achieve significant progress in the field. Key advances were made by producing three dimensional (3D) networks using non-adherent conditions to generate a 3D cerebral cortex-like structure (Pasca et al, 2015), 3D human multi-cell type culture models using 3D microfluidic platforms (Park et al, 2018), organs-on-a-chip used for high throughput drug screening (Ronaldson-Bouchard and Vunjak-Novakovic, 2018), and a variety of conventional scaffold substrates for 3D cultures (Willerth and Sakiyama-Elbert, 2008). These frameworks improved on 2D networks to include space, time, and inputs to allow the prospects of interrogating new paradigms.…”