Engineering-driven construction of functional tissue and organ replacements: scaffolds, vascularisation, biocompatibility, iPSC differentiation, organ-on-chip platforms.
Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine
Scaffold biomaterials (Langer-Vacanti)
Langer-Vacanti 1993 founding TE paradigm: cells + scaffold + bioactive cues = engineered tissue. Scaffolds: PLGA / PEG / collagen /…
Hydrogel mechanics (Flory-Rehner)
Flory-Rehner 1943: swelling equilibrium in cross-linked polymer gels balances mixing entropy (χ-parameter) against elastic retraction. Gel…
Decellularisation-recellularisation (Ott-Taylor)
Ott-Taylor 2008/2010: detergent perfusion (SDS / Triton) strips cellular content while preserving ECM architecture and vasculature;…
Vascularised tissue engineering (Mooney-Levenberg)
Critical for thick (>200 μm) constructs: passive diffusion limit ~150 μm requires built-in microvasculature. Strategies: VEGF-loaded…
Bioprinting bioink rheology
3D bioprinting deposits cell-laden bioinks (gelatin-methacrylate / alginate / collagen). Bioink must be shear-thinning during extrusion…
iPSC differentiation protocols (Yamanaka-Takahashi)
Yamanaka-Takahashi 2006: 4 transcription factors (OCT4/SOX2/KLF4/MYC) reprogram somatic cells to iPSC. Stage-specific differentiation…
Organ-on-chip microfluidics (Ingber-Wyss)
Ingber 2010 lung-on-chip: PDMS microfluidic device with cyclic mechanical stretch + dual-channel perfusion recapitulates alveolar-capillary…
Mechanotransduction & stem-cell fate (Engler-Discher)
Engler-Discher 2006: substrate stiffness directs MSC differentiation via integrin-FAK-RhoA-YAP/TAZ signalling. Soft (1 kPa) → neuronal;…
Extracellular-matrix scaffold composition
ECM = network of collagens (~30% body-protein), elastins, proteoglycans, glycoproteins (fibronectin/laminin). Tissue-specific composition…
Xenotransplant (genetically-modified pig)
Reemtsma 1964 chimpanzee-kidney → human; modern era uses CRISPR-edited pigs (10-gene knockouts: α1,3-galactose / β4GalNT2 / Neu5Gc /…
Cell-therapy clinical-trial pipeline
FDA cell-therapy regulatory pathway: Phase 1 safety (n~10-30) → Phase 2 dose-finding (n~50-200) → Phase 3 efficacy (n~500+) → BLA approval.…
GMP cell manufacturing
Good Manufacturing Practice for cell-therapy: closed-system bioreactors (G-Rex / Quantum / Prodigy); release-criteria (purity / potency /…
Scaffold (Langer-Vacanti 1993)
R Langer-J Vacanti 1993 'Tissue Engineering' Science; modern 3D-bioprinting + decellularized scaffolds; clinical bladder + skin grafts.
Organ-on-chip (Ingber 2010)
D Ingber 2010 lung-on-chip + Wyss-Institute organ-chips; modern human-on-chip + clinical-trials-on-chip drug-screening.
iPSC clinical (Takahashi 2014)
M Takahashi 2014 first iPSC-based AMD clinical trial Japan; modern ParkinSON + diabetes + heart trials.
CAR-T (Rosenberg 1986)
S Rosenberg 1986 + Eshhar-Gross 1989 CAR-T; modern Kymriah 2017 + Yescarta + 5-year survival 50% in DLBCL.
3D bioprinting (Mironov 2009)
V Mironov 2009 organ-printing concept; modern Lewis-Wyss vasculature + Atala bladder + skin grafts; FDA 2024 first-printed-organ.
Stem-cell strategies (Zon 2008)
L Zon 2008 'Intrinsic and extrinsic control of haematopoietic stem-cell self-renewal' Nature; modern ex-vivo HSC expansion.