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The urinary bladder is a complex organ with the primary functions of storing urine under low and stable pressure and micturition. Many clinical conditions can cause poor bladder compliance, reduced capacity, and incontinence, requiring bladder augmentation or use of regenerative techniques and scaffolds. To replicate an organ that is under frequent mechanical loading and unloading, special attention towards fulfilling its biomechanical requirements is necessary. Several biological and synthetic scaffolds are available, with various characteristics that qualify them for use in bladder regeneration in vitro and in vivo, including in the treatment of clinical conditions. The biomechanical properties of the native bladder can be investigated using a range of mechanical tests for standardized assessments, as well as mathematical and computational bladder biomechanics. Despite a large body of research into tissue engineering of the bladder wall, some features of the native bladder and the scaffolds used to mimic it need further elucidation. Collection of comparable reference data from different animal models would be a helpful tool for researchers and will enable comparison of different scaffolds in order to optimize characteristics before entering preclinical and clinical trials.

Regenerative medicine is a multidisciplinary field where continued progress relies on the incorporation of a diverse set of technologies from a wide range of disciplines within medicine, science and engineering. This review describes how one such technique, mathematical modelling, can be utilised to improve the tissue engineering of organs and stem cell therapy. Several case studies, taken from research carried out by our group, ACTREM, demonstrate the utility of mechanistic mathematical models to help aid the design and optimisation of protocols in regenerative medicine.

A tissue-engineered oesophageal scaffold could be very useful for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with benign or malignant diseases such as carcinomas, trauma or congenital malformations. Here we decellularize rat oesophagi inside a perfusion bioreactor to create biocompatible biological rat scaffolds that mimic native architecture, resist mechanical stress and induce angiogenesis. Seeded allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells spontaneously differentiate (proven by gene-, protein and functional evaluations) into epithelial- and muscle-like cells. The reseeded scaffolds are used to orthotopically replace the entire cervical oesophagus in immunocompetent rats. All animals survive the 14-day study period, with patent and functional grafts, and gain significantly more weight than sham-operated animals. Explanted grafts show regeneration of all the major cell and tissue components of the oesophagus including functional epithelium, muscle fibres, nerves and vasculature. We consider the presented tissue-engineered oesophageal scaffolds a significant step towards the clinical application of bioengineered oesophagi.

Tissue-engineered tracheal transplants have been successfully performed clinically. However, before becoming a routine clinical procedure, further preclinical studies are necessary to determine the underlying mechanisms of in situ tissue regeneration. Here we describe a protocol using a tissue engineering strategy and orthotopic transplantation of either natural decellularized donor tracheae or artificial electrospun nanofiber scaffolds into a rat model. The protocol includes details regarding how to assess the scaffolds' biomechanical properties and cell viability before implantation. It is a reliable and reproducible model that can be used to investigate the crucial aspects and pathways of in situ tracheal tissue restoration and regeneration. The model can be established in

The development of tracheal scaffolds fabricated based on electrospinning technique by applying different ratios of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane (PU) is introduced here. Prior to clinical implantation, evaluations of biomechanical and morphological properties, as well as biocompatibility and cell adhesion verifications are required and extensively performed on each scaffold type. However, the need for bioreactors and large cell numbers may delay the verification process during the early assessment phase. Hence, we investigated the feasibility of performing biocompatibility verification using static instead of dynamic culture. We performed bioreactor seeding on 3-dimensional (3-D) tracheal scaffolds (PET/PU and PET) and correlated the quantitative and qualitative results with 2-dimensional (2-D) sheets seeded under static conditions. We found that an 8-fold reduction for 2-D static seeding density can essentially provide validation on the qualitative and quantitative evaluations for 3-D scaffolds. In vitro studies revealed that there was notably better cell attachment on PET sheets/scaffolds than with the polyblend. However, the in vivo outcomes of cell seeded PET/PU and PET scaffolds in an orthotopic transplantation model in rodents were similar. They showed that both the scaffold types satisfied biocompatibility requirements and integrated well with the adjacent tissue without any observation of necrosis within 30 days of implantation.

The incidence of chronic lung disease is increasing worldwide due to the spread of risk factors and ageing population. An important advance in treatment would be the development of a bioartificial lung where the blood-gas exchange surface is manufactured from a synthetic or natural scaffold material that is seeded with the appropriate stem or progenitor cells to mimic the functional tissue of the natural lung.Articles relating to bioartificial lungs were sourced through PubMed and ISI Web of Knowledge.There is a consensus that advances in bioartificial lung engineering will be beneficial to patients with chronic lung failure. Ultimate success will require the concerted efforts of researchers drawn from a broad range of disciplines, including clinicians, cell biologists, materials scientists and engineers.As a source of cells for use in bioartificial lungs it is proposed to use human embryonic stem cells; however, there are ethical and safety concerns regarding the use of these cells.There is a need to identify the optimum strategies for differentiating progenitor cells into functional lung cells; a need to better understand cell-biomaterial/ECM interactions and a need to understand how to harness the body's natural capacity to regenerate the lung.Biomaterial technologies for recreating the natural lung ECM and architecture need further development. Mathematical modelling techniques should be developed for determining optimal scaffold seeding strategies and predicting gas exchange performance.

This paper presents a mathematical model to describe the growth of tissue into a rapid-prototyped porous scaffold when it is implanted onto the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The scaffold was designed to study the effects of the size and shape of pores on tissue growth into conventional tissue engineering scaffolds, and consists of an array of pores each having a pre-specified shape. The experimental observations revealed that the CAM grows through each pore as an intact layer of tissue, provided the width of the pore exceeds a threshold value. Based on these results a mathematical model is described to simulate the growth of the membrane, assuming that the growth is a function of the local isotropic membrane tension. The model predictions are compared against measurements of the extent of membrane growth through the pores as a function of time for pores with different dimensions.

This paper describes a computer algorithm for the determination of the interconnectivity of the pore space inside scaffolds used for tissue engineering. To validate the algorithm and its computer implementation, the algorithm was applied to a computer-generated scaffold consisting of a set of overlapping spherical pores, for which the interconnectivity was calculated exactly. The algorithm was then applied to micro-computed X-ray tomography images of supercritical CO2-foamed scaffolds made from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), whereby the effect of using different weight average molecular weight polymer on the interconnectivity was investigated.

This paper presents a simulation modelling framework to study the growth of blood vessels and cells through a porous tissue engineering scaffold. The model simulates the migration of capillaries and the formation of a vascular network through a single pore of a tissue engineering scaffold when it is embedded in living tissue. The model also describes how the flow of blood through the network changes as growth proceeds. Results are given for how the different strategies of seeding the pore with cells affects the extent of vascularisation. Also simulations are made to compare results where the values of different model parameters are varied such as the pore dimensions, the density of endothelial cells seeded into the pore, and the release rate of growth factor from the scaffold into the pore. The modelling framework described in this paper is useful for exploring experimental strategies for producing well-vascularised tissue engineered constructs, and is therefore potentially important to the field of regenerative medicine.

We present a mathematical model for the proliferation and differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells grown inside artificial porous scaffolds under different oxygen concentrations. The values of parameters in the model are determined by comparison of the model solutions to published experimental data, complemented with a sensitivity analysis of the fitted parameters. It is shown that a simple hypothesis whereby the secretion of extra-cellular matrix (ECM) is oxygen dependent and that ECM itself stimulates cell proliferation is sufficient to explain the experimental data, which under conditions of low oxygen reveals increased total cell proliferation, upregulation of the numbers of undifferentiated cells, and extended lag phase. These results may help further to understand how cells proliferate inside artificial materials and are of importance to the field of tissue engineering.

This paper analyses travelling-wave behaviour in a recently-formulated multiphase model for the growth of biological tissue that comprises motile cells and water inside a porous scaffold. The model arises in the context of tissue engineering, and its purpose is to study how cells migrate and proliferate inside porous biomaterials. In suitable limits, tissue growth in the model is shown to occur in the form of travelling waves that can propagate either forwards or backwards, depending on the values of the parameters. In the case where the drag force between the scaffold and the cells is non-zero, the growth of the aggregate can be analysed in terms of the propagation of a constant-speed wavefront in a semi-infinite domain. A numerical (shooting) method is described for calculating the wave speed, and detailed results for how the speed varies with respect to the parameters are given. In the case where the drag force is zero, the size of the aggregate is shown either to grow or to shrink exponentially with time. These results may be of importance in determining the experimental factors that control tissue invasiveness in scaffolds thereby allowing greater control over engineered tissue growth.

The currently available surgical options to repair the diaphragm are associated with significant risks of defect recurrence, lack of growth potential and restored functionality. A tissue engineered diaphragm has the potential to improve surgical outcomes for patients with congenital or acquired disorders. Here we show that decellularized diaphragmatic tissue reseeded with bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells (BM-MSCs) facilitates in situ regeneration of functional tissue. A novel bioreactor, using simultaneous perfusion and agitation, was used to rapidly decellularize rat diaphragms. The scaffolds retained architecture and mechanical properties and supported cell adhesion, proliferation and differentiation. Biocompatibility was further confirmed in vitro and in vivo. We replaced 80% of the left hemidiaphragm with reseeded diaphragmatic scaffolds. After three weeks, transplanted animals gained 32% weight, showed myography, spirometry parameters, and histological evaluations similar to native rats. In conclusion, our study suggested that reseeded decellularized diaphragmatic tissue appears to be a promising option for patients in need of diaphragmatic reconstruction.

A tissue-engineered oesophageal scaffold could be very useful for the treatment of pediatric and adult patients with benign or malignant diseases such as carcinomas, trauma or congenital malformations. Here we decellularize rat oesophagi inside a perfusion bioreactor to create biocompatible biological rat scaffolds that mimic native architecture, resist mechanical stress and induce angiogenesis. Seeded allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells spontaneously differentiate (proven by gene-, protein and functional evaluations) into epithelial- and muscle-like cells. The reseeded scaffolds are used to orthotopically replace the entire cervical oesophagus in immunocompetent rats. All animals survive the 14-day study period, with patent and functional grafts, and gain significantly more weight than sham-operated animals. Explanted grafts show regeneration of all the major cell and tissue components of the oesophagus including functional epithelium, muscle fibres, nerves and vasculature. We consider the presented tissue-engineered oesophageal scaffolds a significant step towards the clinical application of bioengineered oesophagi., Patients with oesophageal diseases may require surgical removal and replacement of the oesophagus. Here the authors seed mesenchymal stromal cells on a decellularized rat oesophagus and show that this bioengineered tissue construct restores swallowing function after transplantation into rats.

Aortic valve degeneration and dysfunction is one of the leading causes for morbidity and mortality. The conventional heart-valve prostheses have significant limitations with either life-long anticoagulation therapeutic associated bleeding complications (mechanical valves) or limited durability (biological valves). Tissue engineered valve replacement recently showed encouraging results, but the unpredictable outcome of tissue degeneration is likely associated to the extensive tissue processing methods. We believe that optimized decellularization procedures may provide aortic valve/root grafts improved durability. We present an improved/innovative decellularization approach using a detergent-enzymatic perfusion method, which is both quicker and has less exposure of matrix degenerating detergents, compared to previous protocols. The obtained graft was characterized for its architecture, extracellular matrix proteins, mechanical and immunological properties. We further analyzed the engineered aortic root for biocompatibility by cell adhesion and viability in vitro and heterotopic implantation in vivo. The developed decellularization protocol was substantially reduced in processing time whilst maintaining tissue integrity. Furthermore, the decellularized aortic root remained bioactive without eliciting any adverse immunological reaction. Cell adhesion and viability demonstrated the scaffold's biocompatibility. Our optimized decellularization protocol may be useful to develop the next generation of clinical valve prosthesis with a focus on improved mechanical properties and durability.

Development of novel prognostic, diagnostic, and treatment options will provide major benefits for millions of patients with acute or chronic respiratory dysfunction, cardiac-related disorders, esophageal problems, or other diseases in the thorax. Allogeneic organ transplant is currently available. However, it remains a trap because of its dependency on a very limited supply of donated organs, which may be needed for both initial and subsequent transplants. Furthermore, it requires lifelong treatment with immunosuppressants, which are associated with adverse effects. Despite early clinical applications of bioengineered organs and tissues, routine implementation is still far off. For this review, we searched the PubMed, MEDLINE, and Ovid databases for the following keywords for each tissue or organ: tissue engineering, biological and synthetic scaffold/graft, acellular and decelluar(ized), reseeding, bioreactor, tissue replacement, and transplantation. We identified the current state-of-the-art practices in tissue engineering with a focus on advances during the past 5 years. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of biological and synthetic solutions and introduce novel strategies and technologies for the field. The ethical challenges of innovation in this area are also reviewed.

coding the human or species specific NIS genes. NIS function in transduced MSC was first validated in vitro; NIS expressing MSC (MSC_NIS) from multiple species concentrated high levels of I-125 with no side effects. The sensitivity of cell detection was determined by transplanting a known number of MSC_NIS subcutaneously into mice. We can reliably detect 2x105 MSC_NIS in mice using the newly acquired U-SPECT II machine. Canine MSC derived from the bone marrow were surprisingly robust; viable cells were still detected (albeit lower numbers) at day 28 in the athymic mice. In contrast, NIS signals from adipose tissue derived rat or human MSC disappeared by day 7 post transplantation. Using PET imaging and F18-TFB, sensitivity of imaging could be significantly improved to detect lower numbers of cells. We are currently evaluating the use of NIS for tracking natural killer cells and transplanted hemapoietic stem cells and results will be presented.

A mathematical model, in the form of an integro-partial differential equation, is presented to describe the dynamics of cells being deposited, attaching and growing in the form of a monolayer across an adherent surface. The model takes into account that the cells suspended in the media used for the seeding have a distribution of sizes, and that the attachment of cells restricts further deposition by fragmenting the parts of the domain unoccupied by cells. Once attached the cells are assumed to be able to grow and proliferate over the domain by a process of infilling of the interstitial gaps; it is shown that without cell proliferation there is a slow build up of the monolayer but if the surface is conducive to cell spreading and proliferation then complete coverage of the domain by the monolayer can be achieved more rapidly. Analytical solutions of the model equations are obtained for special cases, and numerical solutions are presented for parameter values derived from experiments of rat mesenchymal stromal cells seeded onto thin layers of collagen-coated polyethylene terephthalate electrospun fibers. The model represents a new approach to describing the deposition, attachment and growth of cells over adherent surfaces, and should prove useful for studying the dynamics of the seeding of biomaterials.

In 2011, the first in-man successful transplantation of a tissue engineered trachea-bronchial graft, using a synthetic POSS-PCU nanocomposite construct seeded with autologous stem cells, was performed. To further improve this technology, we investigated the feasibility of using polymers with a three dimensional structure more closely mimicking the morphology and size scale of native extracellular matrix (ECM) fibers. We therefore investigated the in vitro biocompatibility of electrospun polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane (PU) scaffolds, and determined the effects on cell attachment by conditioning the fibers with adhesion proteins. Rat mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) were seeded on either PET or PU fiber-layered culture plates coated with laminin, collagen I, fibronectin, poly-D-lysine or gelatin. Cell density, proliferation, viability, morphology and mRNA expression were evaluated. MSC cultures on PET and PU resulted in similar cell densities and amounts of proliferating cells, with retained MSC phenotype compared to data obtained from tissue culture plate cultures. Coating the scaffolds with adhesion proteins did not increase cell density or cell proliferation. Our data suggest that both PET and PU mats, matching the dimensions of ECM fibers, are biomimetic scaffolds and, because of their high surface area-to-volume provided by the electrospinning procedure, makes them per se suitable for cell attachment and proliferation without any additional coating.

One of the most promising recent achievements in the field of regenerative medicine was the first successful transplantation of a tissue-engineered trachea (Macchiarini et al. The Lancet 372(9655), 2023–2030). This land-mark operation has paved the way for developing a host of successful stem cell-based therapies for treating disease, and the exciting possibility of the tissue engineering of whole organs. It has also provided the opportunity for new directions in mathematical and computational modelling for tissue engineering. By way of describing an approach to modelling the regeneration of a tissue-engineered trachea seeded with cells in situ this chapter will highlight some of the opportunities and challenges involved in applying mathematical models to these new therapies.

This paper describes a computer algorithm for the determination of the interconnectivity of the pore space inside scaffolds used for tissue engineering. To validate the algorithm and its computer implementation, the algorithm was applied to a computer-generated scaffold consisting of a set of overlapping spherical pores, for which the interconnectivity was calculated exactly. The algorithm was then applied to micro-computed X-ray tomography images of supercritical CO(2)-foamed scaffolds made from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA), whereby the effect of using different weight average molecular weight polymer on the interconnectivity was investigated.

We present a mathematical model for the vascularisation of a porous scaffold following implantation in vivo. The model is given as a set of coupled non-linear ordinary differential equations (ODEs) which describe the evolution in time of the amounts of the different tissue constituents inside the scaffold. Bifurcation analyses reveal how the extent of scaffold vascularisation changes as a function of the parameter values. For example, it is shown how the loss of seeded cells arising from slow infiltration of vascular tissue can be overcome using a prevascularisation strategy consisting of seeding the scaffold with vascular cells. Using certain assumptions it is shown how the system can be simplified to one which is partially tractable and for which some analysis is given. Limited comparison is also given of the model solutions with experimental data from the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay.

This paper contains analysis of a recently formulated multiphase model for the growth of biological tissue that comprises motile cells and water inside a rigid scaffold material. The model is extended here to include a term describing cell proliferation which is mediated by the supply of a diffusible nutrient and to include the case where the scaffold porosity varies in space. Numerical solutions of the model equations are presented for different values of the parameters. Comparison is drawn between the different types of growth that arise when using static or dynamic methods for seeding the scaffold with cells. Analytical solutions are presented for the limiting cases in which the coefficient of drag between the cells and the scaffold is very large or zero. In the limit of large time, solutions reveal preferential tissue growth in the vicinity of the scaffold edge due to depletion of nutrient by the cells, consistent with experimental results. However, it is shown that reducing the coefficient of drag between the scaffold and the cells overcomes the effects of nutrient depletion by increasing cell mobility, thereby leading to improved uniformity of the cell distribution within the scaffold.

This paper outlines the framework of a porous flow mixture theory for the mathematical modelling of in vitro tissue growth, and gives an application of this theory to an aspect of tissue engineering. The problem is formulated as a set of partial differential equations governing the space and time dependence of the amounts of each component of the tissue (phase), together with the physical stresses in each component. The theory requires constitutive relations to specify the material properties of each phase, and also requires relations to specify the stresses developed due to mechanical interactions, both within each phase and between different phases. An application of the theory is given to the study of the mobility and aggregation of a population of cells seeded into an artificial polymeric scaffold. Stability analysis techniques show that the interplay of the forces between the tissue constituents results in two different regimes: either the cells form aggregates or disperse through the scaffold.