ABSTRACT
Tissue engineering has emerged over the past two decades to address the growing need for biological substitutes to restore or replace damaged tissues and organs [1]. Current approaches to organ repair rely primarily on transplantation of whole or partial organs and tissues from autogeneic, allogeneic, and less frequently, xenogeneic sources. The imbalance of need versus availability of organs poses as a significant and inherent limitation to this method [2]. Tissue engineering promises an alternative via rebuilding tissues or organs from targeted cell populations, often with the participation of matrices that guide tissue regeneration while providing specific instructions with signaling molecules.
