Dear Colleagues,

Tissue engineering (TE) strategies typically use cells, scaffolds and biological signals with the aim to restore tissue/organ function. Various developments and synergies in the fields of biomaterials, cell/tissue biology and regenerative medicine provide valuable tools, strategies and knowledge that contribute to the progress of TE. However, different challenges still exist which slow the translation of scaffold-based TE products to clinical applications.

Conventional scaffold-based TE approaches involve pre-shaping biomaterial components into desired shapes using a great plethora of manufacturing techniques, followed by cell seeding and culturing. This top-down approach has successfully enabled the formation of tissues with simpler anatomies, such as skin and cartilage. However, it entails limitations such as insufficient cell seeding and nutrient transfer, which become an issue when aiming at manufacturing complex tissues.

To overcome the challenges associated with the top-down TE approaches, bottom-up and modular TE strategies have been increasingly investigated in recent years. These include cellularized building blocks that can assemble “bottom-up” into larger tissue-like constructs with the aim to recapitulate tissue hierarchy and complexity and promote the maturation of TE constructs. Such strategies can represent a paradigm shift in TE, especially for the manufacturing of tissues with complex anatomies.

To improve cell seeding efficiency in the scaffolds, in vitro dynamic culture systems are being developed. The combination of in vitro and in silico approaches together with developments in biosensor technology are envisaged to shed light into the parameters influencing TE processes in these systems and improve translational outcomes.

Another important consideration when designing a TE scaffold is to promote the vascularization for the TE constructs, enhancing their long-term survival and function. For that, different bioengineering strategies, including the bioprinting and encapsulation of bioactive signals, are being developed to promote the temporal and spatial control of vascularization processes in TE scaffolds.

Apart from cell delivery, scaffolds are also designed and developed for the controlled and localized delivery of drugs/biomolecules to affect tissue regeneration while reducing complications related to systemic delivery.

This Special Issue on “Development of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering Applications” is open for original research papers and comprehensive reviews addressing (but not limited to) the following topics:

1. Design and (bio)fabrication techniques of TE scaffolds.
2. Top-down and bottom-up TE scaffold-based strategies.
3. Dynamic cell seeding of TE scaffolds (in vitro and in silico approaches).
4. Bioengineering strategies to promote vascularization within tissue-engineered scaffolds.
5. Scaffolds for specific (orthopaedic, heart or nerve, etc.) TE applications.
6. Scaffolds for controlled and localized drug and biomolecule delivery.

We look forward to receiving your contributions for this Special Issue.

Dr. Chara Simitzi
Prof. Dr. Richard M. Day
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Bioengineering is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• tissue engineering
• scaffolds
• cell delivery
• dynamic cell seeding
• drug/biomolecule delivery
• biofabrication