Engineering Biological Tissues from the Bottom-Up: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

Abstract

Tissue engineering provides a powerful solution for current organ shortages, and researchers have cultured blood vessels, heart tissues, and bone tissues in vitro. However, traditional top-down tissue engineering has suffered two challenges: vascularization and reconfigurability of functional units. With the continuous development of micro-nano technology and biomaterial technology, bottom-up tissue engineering as a promising approach for organ and tissue modular reconstruction has gradually developed. In this article, relevant advances in living blocks fabrication and assembly techniques for creation of higher-order bioarchitectures are described. After a critical overview of this technology, a discussion of practical challenges is provided, and future development prospects are proposed.

Keywords

• bottom-up tissue engineering
• drug screening
• modular assembly
• micro-fabrication