Design, Modeling and Manufacturing of Scaffolds to Control Cell-Biomaterial Interactions in Tissue Engineering

The properties of scaffolds for tissue engineering have significant effect on cellular behavior and can be fine-tuned to promote cell attachment, migration and differentiation. Current research efforts are directed towards the development of materials with engineered porosity, hierarchical micro- and nanostructures, topography and surface chemistry to influence cell fate by biochemical, physical and mechanical signals. Diverse techniques have been proposed so far to modify roughness and topography of scaffolds surface, including lithographic and patterning methods, electrospinning and additive manufacturing. Mechanical properties of materials, such as stiffness, have been also used to stimulate biological responses and modulate mechano-transduction in cells. Beside physical cues, chemical strategies have allowed to regulate adhesive interactions of cells onto a surface, adsorption, composition and conformation of the extracellular matrix and proteins.

The understanding of the processes underlying the growth of cell populations over scaffolds and their optimization for use in clinical setting require a multidisciplinary and multiscale approach. Mathematical and computational modeling provide the necessary framework to integrate the phenomena involved at the appropriate spatio-temporal scales, which are not always readily observable. In fact, the processes governing cell population growth and dynamics, cell-cell interactions, cell-material interactions, nutrients transport, angiogenesis are crucial in the identification of the governing principles and rely on modeling to advance theoretical and experimental understanding. The complexity of the modeling is in the necessity to describe phenomena acting at different levels: genomic, cellular, biophysical and tissue biomechanics. Progresses in tissue 3D printing and the need to fabricate full organs for clinical applications promote a close synergy between modeling, design and manufacturing.

This Research Topic focuses on recent advances in design, modeling and manufacturing of instructive materials that are physically or chemically modified to influence cell-biomaterial interactions. Research articles, reviews and mini-reviews on the following topics are welcome:

- Scaffolds with engineering surface properties to control cell activity;
- Interaction of cells with micro- and nano-structured surfaces and materials;
- Hierarchical three-dimensional scaffolds for cell cultures;
- Cell proliferation modeling within a porous tissue-engineering scaffold or bioreactor;
- Cell population dynamics and biomechanical interactions with material surfaces;
- Reliability and model validation for clinical applications;
- Multiscale modeling and computational frameworks for tissue engineering.