SYNTHETIC ENROUTES TO ENGINEER ELECTROSPUN SCAFFOLDS FOR STEM CELLS AND TISSUE REGENERATION - Micro and Nanotechnologies in Engineering Stem Cells and Tissues - page 135

5.4 CONCLUSIONS

Scaffolds that mimic the natural ECM are considered the most ideal scaffolds for
tissue or stem cell regeneration. Bioengineers aim for the development of suitable
substrates for tissue regeneration using various and ultimate nano- or microtech-
nologies. To find a synthetic solution to the natural scaffold materials, many groups
use nanofibrous scaffold comprising various novel features such as cross-linking,
surface modification, growth factor inclusion or sustained release, drug or antiox-
idant inclusion, and nanostructural modifications in fiber alignment. We have
identified and provided in this chapter the summary of the above-stated research
works so as to provide an overall outlook. Designing an optimized biomimetic ECM
scaffold is an achievable task with better understanding of the chemistry of the
scaffold and its structure and pattern along with the biochemical signals associated
with stem cell differentiation and proliferation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This study was supported by the Ministry of Education (R-265-000-318-112); NRF-
Technion (R-398-001-065-592); and NUSNNI, National University of Singapore,
Singapore.

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