Approach to Clinical Tissue Engineering

摘要

Polymers and fibers have been used in tissue engineering for the restoration of severely diseased or lost tissues along with cells. The major function of polymers in the tissue engineering is support of cells for their differentiation, proliferation, and extracellular matrix formation. To achieve this function, polymers are processed to the shape of scaffolds and carriers so as to incorporate cells and growth factors inside the biomaterials. To allow for seeding cells as many as possible and sufficient delivery of nutrients to the incorporated cells, scaffolds should be resorbable and porous with interconnected porosity. Fibers are very useful as a starting material to fabricate porous scaffolds. Bioabsorbable fibers made from polyglycolide(PGA) and poly(glycolide-co-lactide)(PGLA) have been extensively applied for scaffold fabrication as non-woven fabrics. Poly(lactide-co-ε-caprolactone)[P(LA/CL)] also has a high potential as a biomaterial for scaffolds. When the LA/CL ratio is around 50/50, the copolymer exhibits elasticity with low Young's modulus. This presentation will display some clinical applications of these resorbable polymers and fibers in tissue engineering of soft tissues.