ABSTRACT
Tissue engineering is the exciting discipline of design and construction of spare parts for the human body to restore function based on biology and biomedical engineering. The basis of tissue engineering is the triad of signals for tissue induction, responding stem cells, and the scaffolding of extracellular matrix. Among the many tissues in the human body bone has the highest power of regeneration and therefore is a prototype model for tissue engineering based on morphogenesis. Morphogenesis is the developmental cascade of pattern formation, body plan establishment, and culmination of the adult body form. The cascade of bone morphogenesis in the embryo is recapitulated by demineralized bone matrixinduced bone formation. The inductive signals for bone morphogenesis, the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) were isolated from demineralized bone matrix. BMPs and related cartilage-derived morphogenetic proteins (CDMPs) initiate cartilage and bone formation. The promotion and maintenance of the initiated skeleton is regulated by several growth factors. Tissue engineering is the symbiosis of signals (growth factors and morphogens), stem cells, and scaffolds (extracellular matrix). The rules of architecture for tissue engineering are a true imitation of principles of developmental biology and morphogenesis.
