Tissue regeneration processing and mimicking

Abstract

Tissue regeneration has been one of the comprehensive topics that underlie tissue engineering and has been researched over years. The main aim in tissue engineering is to create a tissue microenvironment produced from natural or synthetic biomaterials, to promote tissue regeneration in the injured site, thus mimicking the natural extracellular matrix (ECM) structure as much as possible, to ensure the migration of specific cells to the site, cell proliferation, and cell differentiation. In this context, it is critical to understand the difference between tissue repair and tissue regeneration, the main stages of tissue repair (hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and remodeling), and the regeneration and repair mechanisms of the four basic tissues (connective, epithelial, muscle, and nerve tissue). Studies on tissue regeneration mainly focus on scaffolds, decellularized tissues, and their combination with cells capable of self-renewal and differentiation, such as stem cells. Herein, it is also presented in detail how to mimic the tissue microenvironment, the essential characteristics of a scaffold and why decellularized tissues are needed.