Bioengineered Scaffolds and Smart Biomaterials for Tissue Regeneration: Trends and Future Directions

Abstract

Regeneration of tissues is as well a revolutionary front in regenerative medicines, and the development in bioengineered scaffold and intelligent biomaterials that replicate the intricate architectural, biochemical, and mechanical properties of the natural extracellular neighbor (ECM) have contributed to this. Such scaffolds serve both supporting structures as well as cell behavior regulation, tissue formation, and controlled release of bioactive molecules. The past few years have experienced great advancement in biomimetic scaffold construction, which poses high precision levels to replicate the microenvironment in a given tissue. Parallel to this, the introduction of smart biomaterials, whose properties are dynamic and responsive to a physiological cue, e.g. pH, temperature, enzymatic activity or mechanistic load gave rise to new opportunities in real-time responsiveness and adaptive wound healing. Other strategies that have improved scaffold design include 3D bioprinting, electrospinning, and self-assembling peptide systems which allow perfecting of porosity, architecture, and mechanical characteristics of the scaffold to constitute a variety of tissue such as bone, cartilage, skin, neural, and cardiac tissues. Nanotechnology has also allowed incorporation of nanoscale signals and functions into the scaffolds thus promoting improved interactions between cells and matrix and therapeutic delivery. Whereas spectacular laboratory and preclinical success have been achieved, clinical translation of these technologies has numerous challenges such as immune compatibility, vascularization, mechanical mismatch, biodegradation control, and scalability. The regulatory environment of scaffold-based implants is still convoluted and requires a unified assessment criteria of long term efficacy and safety. In this review, the recent advances in fabrication methods of scaffold materials and the functionalization methods of biomaterials have been synthesized and their critical analysis is discussed in terms of their therapeutic potential related to different tissue systems and the interdisciplinary frontier in terms of artificial intelligence, bioelectronics, and intelligent monitoring systems. In addition, it indicates major research lacunae and suggests future directions with the intention to transcend the translational pitfalls and achieve patient-specific and clinically viable solutions to regenerate tissues. Given this thorough evaluation, the paper will foreseeably lead to orienting researchers, biomedical engineers and clinicians in the rational design and use of next-generation regenerative therapies through sophisticated scaffolding systems and smart biomaterials.