Cell Responses to Surface and Architecture of Tissue Engineering Scaffolds

Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field that combines the knowledge and technology of cells, engineering materials, and suitable biochemical factor to create artificial organs and tissues, or to regenerate damage tissues (Langer & Vacanti, 1993). It involves cell seeding on a scaffold followed by culturing in vitro prior to implantation in vivo. The ideal scaffolds provide a framework and initial support for the cells to attach, proliferate and differentiate, and form an extracellular matrix (ECM) (Agrawal & Ray, 2001). It should be noted that scaffold surface topography and chemistry (wettability, softness and stiffness, roughness); microstructure (porosity, pore size, pore shape, interconnectivity, specific surface area) (O'Brien & Gibson, 2005b) and mechanical properties (Engler & Discher, 2006; Peyton & Putnam, 2005) have been shown to significantly influence cell behaviors such as adhesion, growth and differentiation, and to affect the bioactivity of scaffolds used for in vivo regeneration applications of various tissues, such as cartilage, skin and peripheral nerves. For tissue engineering purposes, understanding cell behavior and responses on extracellular scaffolds within physiological relevant 3D construct can aid the design of optimal bioactive tissue engineering scaffolds. Controlling cell behavior and remodeling by modulating the local engineered extracellular environment process is also a critical step in the development of the next generation of bioactive tissue engineering scaffolds. The present chapter will discuss cell responses to surface chemistry and various architecture parameters; current approaches and technologies to optimize tissue engineering scaffolds and challenges in studying the cell interaction with scaffolds.