Biodegradable polymers for emerging clinical use in tissue engineering

Abstract

A large fraction of the total health-care costs worldwide can be attributed to tissue loss or organ failure due to congenital or acquired diseases, accidents, or trauma. These costs are not only of monetary value but, more importantly, of value in human life and quality of life. The current demands for transplant organs and tissues, however, is far outpacing the supply, and all manner of projections indicate that this gap will continue to widen [1]. Thus, there has been an urgent demand for more successful regenerative strategies to repair or replace damaged tissues and organs. Tissue engineering is a thriving new area of multidisciplinary research that has potential to revolutionize the treatment of diseased and damaged tissues or organs. The ability to develop materials that can interface with tissues structurally, mechanically, and biofunctionally is important to the success of regenerative strategies [2]. As a new and multidisciplinary endeavor, tissue engineering holds the promises of (a) eliminating reoperations by using biological substitutes,(b) using biological substitutes to solve problems of implant rejection, transmission of diseases associated with xenografts, and the shortage in organ donations,(c) providing long-term solutions in tissue repair or treatment of diseases, and (d) potentially offering treatments for medical conditions that are currently untreatable [3]. The approaches to construction of any tissue or organ typically rely on three essential components: cells, which will ultimately form the new tissue; scaffolds, designed to maintain the cells in a three-dimensional environment at the implantation site; and signals that guide the gene expression