An Introduction to

Tissue Engineering
Overview
I. Tissue engineering
II. Stem cell research
III. Tissue model constructs
and lab techniques
IV. Ethics
According to the Pittsburgh Tissue
Engineering Initiative,
“Tissue engineering is an emerging
interdisciplinary field that applies
the principles of biology and engineering
to the development of viable substitutes
that restore, maintain, or improve the
function of human tissues.”
What are ‘viable substitutes’?

• On a large scale, certain surgical

interventions, like castration of a bull, have
led to alteration of tissue function.
• On a molecular level, gene therapy is has
been very successful with plants and
animals
• On a cellular level, the research is currently
focused on stem cells.
Stem cells
a stem cell is,
“an unspecialized cell that gives rise to
differentiated cells“
Two basic types:
Embryonic – pluripotential
Adult – multipotential
Embryonic stem cells
According to Richard Mollard, Ph.D., of
the International Society for Stem Cell
Research, “Human embryonic stem (ES)
cells are cultured cell lines derived from the
inner cell mass of the blastocyst that can
be grown indefinitely in their
undifferentiated state, yet also are capable
of differentiating into all cells of the adult
body.”
http://www.time.com/time/2001/stemcells/#
Embryonic stem cells (con’t)

• Two sources
– Fertilized egg from in vitro fertilization
– Ovum that has had nucleus removed
and nuclear material injected from
intended recipient of final tissue product
(reproductive/therapeutic cloning)
• Very controversial
 Adult stem cells

• Found in:
– Umbilical cord blood/tissue
– Adult brain, blood cornea, retina, heart,
fat, skin, dental pulp, bone marrow,
blood vessels, skeletal muscle and
intestines
II. Stem cell research
What progress has been made
to date?

• Autologous stem cells have been

injected into heart to regenerate
damaged cardiac tissue
• Corneal autologous stem cell grafts
have been used to treat eye disease
& trauma
• Skin replacement has been grown
with stem cells for transplant in burn
victims
Progress…

• Autologous stem-cell cartilage grafts

have been used to treat joint disease
• Leukemia & other cancers have been
treated with stem cells from bone
marrow and umbilical cord blood
• A human mandible has been
produced using a titanium mesh and
autologous bone-marrow stem cells
The future?
According to the Stem Cell Research Center:
Half Of All Americans Could Benefit From Stem Cell Research
Experts are predicting that stem cell research has the potential
to help up to half of all Americans, who suffer from some form of
presently incurable disease, injury or birth defect. Some of
Those conditions include:

One million children with juvenile diabetes

8.2 million people with cancer
58 million with heart disease
Four million suffering from Alzheimer's disease
10 million with osteoporosis
43 million arthritis sufferers
250,000 people paralyzed by spinal cord injuries
30,000 victims of Lou Gehrig's disease
500,000 with Parkinson's disease

www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org/WhatsNew/Benefit.htm
III. Tissue model
constructs &
lab techniques
Tissue engineering requires three things:

Cells

Scaffold Signals
• We’ve already discussed different
types of cells that may be used
• The scaffold refers to the tissue
model construct
• The signals refer to molecular
signaling molecules, also known as
growth factors
Basic scaffold criteria:

• Portions must be biodegradable

• Usually designed in the shape of the
tissue product the researcher is
working on
www.eng.nus.edu.sg/ EResnews/0210/rd/rd_10.html
Biomimetic Scaffold Fabrication

                                                                                                                                        

bms.dent.umich.edu/research/malab.html