Keynote: Multi-scale scaffolds for tissue engineering

A critical issue in the general area of Advanced Therapies is the need

for temporary scaffolds to regenerate tissue defects. The scaffolds

should be specifically designed to create environments that promote

tissue development and not merely to support the maintenance of communities

of cells. To achieve that goal, highly functional scaffolds may

combine specific morphologies at different scales and dimensions capturing

characteristic features and functionalities of the extra-cellular

matrix. Many biomaterials have been proposed to produce scaffolds.

We have a particular interest in developing systems based in biodegradable

polymers. Those demanding applications require a combination of

mechanical properties, processability, cell-friendly surfaces and tunable

biodegradability that are specific for the application. Electrospinning is

a versatile technique used to produce synthetic polymeric ultrafine

fibers. It enables the production of non-woven meshes with fiber diameters

in the nanometer range with high surface area-to-volume ratio

and high porosity. Those meshes can mimic some aspects of the extracellular

matrix of human tissues and be used as scaffolds for tissue

engineering applications. We developed such structures to obtain the

release of bioactive agents intended to direct and control stem cell differentiation.

This talk will review our latest developments for bone and

cartilage tissue engineering of scaffolds having microstructures at different

scales and dimensions.