Current concepts in tissue engineering: cell, matrices, and genes

Tissue engineering approaches to repair or regenerate tissue or organ function has begun to reach clinical utility. Advances will depend on the optimization of critical constituents including the delivery scaffold, the participating cells, and the regulation of bioactive factors. This review provides a discussion of work published within the past year that was dedicated to studying one or more attributes of tissue engineering methods applicable to musculoskeletal tissues. The most substantial work has been directed at the development of technologies to control the three-dimensional architecture and chemistry of delivery matrices. The use of composites has continued to show particular promise. In addition, advances in the delivery of gene products to a repair site have begun to demonstrate potential for regulation and augmentation of the healing cascade.