Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 10
BIOMIMETIC MATRICES FOR INTEGRIN-MEDIATED CELL
ADHESION
Keshia M. Ashe, Duron A. Lee, Kevin W.-H. Lo, Lakshmi S. Nair and
Cato T. Laurencin
*
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Connecticut, Farmington,
CT 06030, USA
*
E-mail: Laurencin@uchc.edu
1. Introduction
Tissue engineering is a relatively new field, involving “the application of
biological, chemical, and engineering principles towards the repair, restoration,
or regeneration of living tissues using biomaterials, cells, and factors, alone or in
combination” [1]. The use of synthetic biomaterials as implants has been a
central theme due to limited availability of autologous tissue, relative ease of
material attainment or fabrication, and favorable biocompatibility characteristics
inherently present in many of these biomaterials [2]. However, in order for these
implants to successfully enhance tissue regeneration, cells must be able to use
transmembrane surface adhesion receptors, or integrins, to effectively adhere to
material surfaces via adsorbed or immobilized proteins. This adhesion promotes
normal cellular behaviors such as proliferation, migration, and differentiation [3].
Without proper osteoblast integrin-mediated adhesion, poor cell-substrate
interactions can lead to problems such as
in vivo
fibrosis and implant
encapsulation, foreign body reaction, inflammation, aseptic loosening and local
bone resorption [2]. In order to circumvent these problems, researchers have
looked to biological mimicry (or biomimetics) in an attempt to fabricate
materials with certain chemical, biological and morphological surface properties
that are capable of eliciting or modulating specific cellular responses, and
ultimately enhance new tissue formation
in situ
[4]. By modeling biological
properties or processes that naturally occur in the body, biologically inert
materials can be enhanced with functional biomolecules derived from the
biological microenvironment and incorporated directly onto or within a
247
Search WWH ::
Custom Search