Processing and design criteria for engineering artificial tissues

由于受伤或疾病导致的器官衰竭是一个广泛和日益严重的医疗问题，对个人和经济都有巨大的影响。工程人工组织是治疗组织功能受损患者的一种重要的新兴策略。作为一种有效的治疗选择，替代组织必须提供足够的功能，与它所替代的天然组织相当。天然组织由许多独立的细胞组成，这些细胞以精确定义的模式排列，以确保正确的功能。目前，工程组织在结构上仅部分与天然组织相似，不能充分发挥治疗患者的功能。原生组织在发育中的胚胎中组装。各种信号分子和组成细胞之间的相互作用决定了组织结构。人工重现胚胎中组织的信号传导和细胞间相互作用为工程师组织具有适当结构和功能的人工组织提供了一种新策略。

Organ failure as a result of injury or disease is a widespread and increasing medical problem with immense personal and economic implications. Engineering artificial tissues is an important emerging strategy for treating patients who have suffered impaired tissue function. To be an effective treatment option, a substitute tissue must provide adequate function, comparable to the native tissue it is replacing. Native tissues are comprised of many individual cells arranged in precisely defined patterns necessary to ensure correct function. Currently, engineered tissues only partially resemble native tissues in structure and do not function adequately to treat patients. Native tissues are assembled in the developing embryo. Various signalling molecules and interactions between the component cells define tissue organization. Artificially recapitulating the signalling and cell-cell interactions that organize tissues in an embryo offers a novel strategy for engineers to organize artificial tissues with appropriate structure and function.