Biopolymers in Regenerative Medicine: Overview, Current Advances and Future Trends

Abstract

An ambition of regenerative medicine is the in vivo restoration or, alternatively, the in vitro generation of a complex functional organ consisting of a scaffold made out of synthetic or natural materials that has been loaded with living cells (Melek 2015, 2014; Terzic and Nelson 2010). Mammalian cells respond in vivo to the biological stimulus from the surrounding environment, which is structured by nanometer-scaled components. Consequently, materials intended for the reconstruction of the human body have to reproduce the correct signals that guide the cells towards a desirable behavior (Patel 2011), in this sense, polímeros are currently investigated. Exciting advances based on application of the self-assembled biocompatible polymeric scaffolds for regeneration of tissues and organs were systematically explored and described in detail in the literature.