Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 17
Nanotissue Engineering of
Musculoskeletal Cells
Mohamadreza Baghaban Eslaminejad, Leila Taghiyar, and Fatemeh Safari
Department of Stem Cell and Developmental Biology at Cell Science Research Center, Royan Institute
for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
Introduction
Technological advancements in medical treatments as well as improvements in hygiene have
resulted in a significant increase in life expectancy. This, in turn, has caused an increase in
age-related musculoskeletal disorders such as pathological fractures of the pelvis that result
from bone cancer, knee and pelvic degenerative diseases, and arthritis. In recent years mus-
culoskeletal injuries have increased because of increased sport and recreational activities [1].
Often musculoskeletal tissue injuries include traumatic damage to bone and surrounding
tissues, such as tendons, muscles, and sometimes cartilage. In most minor injuries the defect
heals following appropriate medical intervention, but reconstruction of extensive damage
remains a major challenge for orthopedists. For example, the golden standard of treatment
for large bone defects is autograft transplantation. However, the application of this
therapy is limited because of the lack of an autologous tissue supply and morbidity of the
donor site [2-5]. An alternative method is allograft transplantation. Although allografts
are not limited in supply, they can trigger the host immune response and may carry the
risk of disease transfer [6]. In this context, the application of tissue constructs fabricated
by tissue-engineering principles has emerged as an excellent alternative to either auto- or
allograft transplantation [7].
Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary field that applies the principles of biological and
engineering sciences to promote regeneration of injured tissues [8, 9]. In general, this emerg-
ing field makes use of the three building blocks of cells, materials, and bioactive molecules.
In order to restore function to damaged tissues and organs, each of these elements should be
applied alone or in combination depending on the nature of the tissue defect. In an advanced
strategy, suitable cells cultivated on an appropriate scaffold are provided with inducing sig-
nals to produce a tissue-like construct. Under these conditions, the biomaterial serves as
three-dimensional frameworks for cell attachment and proliferation [7, 10]. The interaction
between cells and scaffold biomaterial is crucial for cell differentiation. Improving the cell-
biomaterial interaction is of utmost importance in order to achieve tissue-engineering goals
[11]. In this regard, taking into consideration the tissue's natural microenvironment is helpful.
