ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews developments in nanoengineered materials, cellular signaling, tissue encapsulation, and cellular programming, and how they are being brought together to realize a new medical technology for tissue regeneration and treatment in some of the most challenging and intractable diseases and disorders. Nanotechnology plays an integral role in creating materials and structures for tissue regeneration to match the nanoscale structures of biological cells and connective tissues. Nanotechnology is also being used to monitor outcomes in tissue regeneration by tracking cell distribution, proliferation, and differentiation after cell transplantation. The ultimate goal of tissue engineering is to support a fully capable regenerative medicine by initiating and controlling the regeneration of tissue by use of cell-signaling and cell programming. Tissue engineering uses techniques such as scaffold-guided tissue regeneration, with the seeding of porous, biodegradable scaffolds with donor cells, which become differentiated and replace the structure and function of naturally occurring tissues.
