ABSTRACT
Regenerative medicine and tissue engineering are rapidly evolving areas of medicine and research. Often used interchangeably, these closely related research Œelds work cohesively, with the goal of altering the course and treatment of major injuries and chronic disease, ranging from orthopedic defects to diabetes (Furth and Atala 2008; Chiu et al. 2011; Wang and Guan 2010; Levenberg and Langer 2004). According to the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, there are four main concentrations in regenerative medicine: 1) medical devices and artiŒcial organs; 2) tissue engineering and biomaterials; 3) cellular therapies; and 4) clinical translation (McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine n.d.). The use and combination of research practices in these four areas provides the backbone for future medical research in tissue repair and replacement. Currently, large tissue defects are treated by the surgical removal of the defective tissue and replacement with nonbiological prostheses that only need to match the structural or mechanical criteria of the native tissue (Williams 2001). As clinical practice trends shift toward minimally invasive procedures, the ability to address lesions earlier in development will provide
13.1 Introduction ..................................................................................................299 13.2 Current Research Findings ........................................................................... 301
13.2.1 Regulation of Cell Adhesion by Nanostructures .............................. 301 13.2.2 Regulation of Cell Morphology by Nanostructures through the
Regulation of FA Formation and Actin Cytoskeletal Organization ...... 302 13.2.3 Regulation of Cell Migration by Nanostructures .............................307 13.2.4 Regulation of the Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Maintenance of
Potency by Nanostructures ...............................................................308 13.2.5 Regulation of Stem Cell Differentiation in Nanobiomaterials ......... 310
13.3 Conclusion and Future Directions ................................................................ 313 References .............................................................................................................. 314
regenerative medicine applications with many opportunities to replace defunct tissue with a cellular-based therapy. In the long term, cell-based regenerative medical therapy has the potential for greatly affecting clinical medicine by addressing the shortage in donor organs through the use of tissue-speciŒc stem cells or stem cells derived from adult or embryonic sources for organ regeneration. Although 50,000 individuals need transplants, many will never receive them. However, this can be alleviated through the regeneration of organs de novo to overcome the donor shortage, the need to immunophenotype donor and patient, and the immunosuppressive therapy resulting from organ transplantation (Williams 2001). Tissue engineering offers the potential for using cell therapies and biomaterials to regenerate tissues and restore organ function, with the hopes of one day eliminating the need for organ transplants.
