Cell-Biomaterial interaction for construction of synthetic Tissue Microenvironment :

Specific interactions between cell and biomaterials are required to control the cellular functions and for development of a cell (or stem cell) niche. These interactions provide rational designs for construction of specific tissue microenvironment for physiological and pathological conditions.

The design of biomaterials and the sourcing for appropriate cells are two integrated aspects of tissue engineering to construct a tissue implant for clinical applications. During the past decades, many innovative biomaterials with desirable biological and mechanical properties have emerged, while stem cells have been shown to be a promising cell source to differentiate into many cell types. However, the testing of these bioartificial tissue constructs in the clinical trials is far from satisfactory. How microenvironments in the biomaterials regulate cellular signaling pathways and functions, how stem cell-derived target cells respond to extracellular cues presented by the biomaterials, and how implanted tissue constructs interact with host tissues remain to be investigated.

The fundamental cross-talk between a cell and material to provide microenvironmental cues and in understanding the role (and interplay) of the cues in controlling cellular functions including stem cell for cell adhesion, proliferation, migration and differentiation. The information of the interplay between cell and biomaterials would be helpful to guide us in improving our current strategy to refine the tissue constructs for effective tissue repair in regenerative medicine.