Biomaterials in Tissue Engineering

In the field of tissue engineering (TE), cells are recruited with scaffolds and soluble factors to make artificial tissues. The scaffolds aim to re-create the native extracellular matrix (ECM) for the cells in vitro, regulating various cellular behaviors, such as proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Biomaterials have widely been used as the tissue scaffolds providing multiple functions, such as the substrate for cells, control on the mechanics, morphology, and three-dimensional (3D) structure of tissues, and encapsulation and release of different biomolecules, such as growth factors and drugs. Biomaterials can generally be divided into two categories: natural and synthetic. Major characteristics of natural biomaterials are their biocompatibility, cell-binding affinity, and degradation, while synthetic biomaterials often provide high mechanical properties as well as tunable chemistry and physical structure. This chapter reviews the characteristics and applications of the commonly used biomaterials in the TE field.