Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Interactions with Scaffolds - Biomaterials in Regenerative Medicine: From Research to Translational Applications

Tissue reconstruction represents one of the most acute challenges in all surgical procedures following trauma, tumor resection or congenital anomalies. Regenerative Medicine is an interdisciplinary field that combines material, chemistry and engineering with biology and medicine to develop biocompatible "substitutes" able to promote regeneration of human cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function.

The latest developments in the regenerative medicine research involves advances in cell, gene therapy, stem cell research and molecular therapy. Regenerative medicines have the unique ability to repair, replace and regenerate tissues and organs, affected due to some injury, disease or due to natural aging process. These medicines are capable of restoring the functionality of cells and tissues. The discovery of mesenchymal stem cells in all "terminally differentiated" tissues is one of the most important scientific discoveries of recent years.

The scaffold-cell interaction is the basis of successful applications. Degradable matrices are based on both synthetic and natural polymers. Aliphatic polyesters such as poly (-Caprolactone) (PCL), poly(glycolic acid) (PGA), poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and co-polymers of lactic acid and glycolic acid (PLGA) are the most widely used synthetic polymers. Natural Extracellular Matrix (ECM) polymers, commonly used, include: collagen, gelatin, alginate, chitosan and glycosaminoglycans such as chondroitin sulfate and hyaluronic acid.

Then, a large variety of chemical formulations can be taken into account in the design of a scaffold (formation of polymer blend, interpenetrating matrices, composites) used for the production of the matrices in order to achieve the proper mechanical and biological characteristics. Recently, the importance of nanostructured matrices that can mimic the nanofibrous structure of the natural ECM has been recognized. It has been demonstrated that the topology of the matrix plays an important role in determining cellular structure, function and differentiation.

We invite investigators to submit original research and review articles to contribute to the fast evolving research work in terms of tissue engineering studies, biomaterial properties, mesenchymal stem cell biology. In particular, we are interested in the investigation of the interplay between MSC (from adipose tissue, dental tissue, bone marrow) and biomaterials that would be helpful to guide us in improving our current strategy to refine the tissue constructs for effective tissue repair in regenerative medicine.