Cell/Tissue Microenvironment Engineering and Monitoring in Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, and In Vitro Tissue Models
1INSERM UMR1121 “Biomaterials and Bioengineering,” Strasbourg, France
2Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
3Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Cell/Tissue Microenvironment Engineering and Monitoring in Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine, and In Vitro Tissue Models
Description
The current generation of engineered tissues has resulted in successful clinical applications in trachea, skin, and cartilage. For the engineering of more intricate tissues, however, it is still necessary to attain more precise control of cellular microenvironment. Guiding local differentiation of stem cells from various resources seeded in biomaterials and also exerting precise control over the phenotype of different cell types simultaneously are essential for engineering complex, multicellular tissues. Moreover, the use of tissue-engineered products as disease or test tissue models, as fundamental research tools and materials for pharmaceutical testing, further increases the need to understand and mimic the multicellular 3D microenvironments in tissues. These advancements also bring out the need to develop efficient methods to monitor and quantify the changes within the engineered tissues both in vitro and in vivo. Studies that improve the understanding of the cell microenvironment for different tissue settings would help us produce more robust and functional engineered tissues.
We invite investigators to contribute original research and review articles that focus on design, modification, and utilization of microenvironments for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine purposes and who apply novel techniques to monitor and characterize engineered tissues in vitro and in vivo. We are particularly interested in studies that employ biochemical, biophysical, and topographical cues for directing cell behavior within 3D settings. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Novel in vitro and in vivo engineered tissue monitoring techniques and use of biosensors in tissue engineering applications
- Techniques and applications of 3D cell microenvironment design, particularly for stem cells
- Stimuli-responsive and hybrid biomaterials for development of 3D complex cell microenvironments
- Role of nano/microscale surface topography and surface modifications on cell guidance, differentiation, and phenotype in engineered tissues
- Modular tissue engineering methods and other fabrication techniques for the creation of gradients of microenvironments for artificial tissues
- Biomaterial based coculture systems and heterotypic cell-cell interaction control via designed microenvironments
- Incorporation of drug, cytokine, and morphogen-controlled delivery systems within engineered tissues
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/bmri/tissue.engineering/ctm/ according to the following timetable: