ABSTRACT

An ambition of regenerative medicine is the in vivo restoration or, alternatively, the in vitro generation of a complex functional organ consisting of a scaffold made out of synthetic or natural materials that has been loaded with living cells (Melek 2015, 2014; Terzic and Nelson 2010). Mammalian cells respond in vivo to the biological stimulus from the surrounding environment, which is structured by nanometer-scaled components. Consequently, materials intended for the reconstruction of the human body have to reproduce the correct signals that guide the cells towards a desirable behavior (Patel 2011), in this sense, polímeros are currently investigated. Exciting advances based on application of the self-assembled biocompatible polymeric scaffolds for regeneration of tissues and organs were systematically explored and described in detail in the literature (Niaounakis 2014; Kalia and Avérous 2011;

1 Soft Matter and Molecular Biophysics Group, Department of Applied Physics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15782, Spain.