Prospects for Organ and Tissue Replacement

Abstract

Damage or loss of a tissue or organ is common, costly, and tragic. Advances in mechanical artificial organs and organ transplantation have improved the treatment of organ failure, and advances in molecular immunology, tissue engineering, and stem cell biology offer the promise of even better therapeutic modalities for treating organ failure in the future. Enhancement of immune tolerance of transplanted tissues, improved understanding of cellular differentiation and tissue development, and advances in biomaterials may enable the de novo creation of implantable tissue and organs for transplantation. Innovative techniques for prevention and treatment of tissue loss and organ failure should improve the quality and length of life.

Vascularized tissue‐engineered chambers promote survival and function of transplanted islets and improve glycemic control

“…The clinical method of choice for islet transplantation is portal vein injection, although thrombosis after repeated injections and long‐term metabolic disturbances in the liver such as steatosis are significant complications of this procedure (10, 11). Whole pancreas transplantation is another alternative but, as with islet transplantation, suffers from a chronic lack of pancreata (2, 3).…”

Microscale technologies for tissue engineering and biology

“…Despite significant advances in tissue engineering (3), which have resulted in successful engineering of organs such as skin and cartilage, there are a number of challenges that remain in making offthe-shelf tissue-engineered organs. These barriers include the lack of a renewable source of functional cells that are immunologically compatible with the patient; the lack of biomaterials with desired mechanical, chemical, and biological properties; and the inability to generate large, vascularized tissues that can easily integrate into the host's circulatory system with the architectural complexity of native tissues.…”

Electrically conductive carbon‐based (bio)‐nanomaterials for cardiac tissue engineering

“…63,[67][68][69][70] Total heart transplantation, on the other hand, is by far a satisfying approach though insufficient donors, heightened risks of open-heart procedure, probability of organ rejection, complex postoperative cares, and precautions of immunosuppression regimens are still considerable challenges making this approach extremely complicated. 34,[71][72][73][74] Moreover, such surgical operations carry significant risk to older people, which suffer from CVDs more often than younger patients do. Therefore, alternative regeneration routes have emerged to repair heart function appropriately.…”