Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine: new trends and directions - a year in review

Abstract

Tissue engineering (TE) is continuously evolving assimilating inputs from adjacent scientific areas and their technological advances, including nanotechnology developments that have been spawning the range of available options for the precise manipulation and control of cells and cellular environments. Simultaneously, with the maturation of the field, TE has a growing and marked impact in other fields, such as cancer and other diseases research, enabling tri-dimensional (3D) tumor/tissue models of increased complexity that more closely resemble living tissue dynamics, playing a decisive role in the development of new and improved therapies. Nevertheless, TE is still struggling with translational issues. On this matter, the advent of personalized and precision medicine has opened new perspectives, particularly with the striking evolutions enabled by 3D bioprinting technologies. Based on a modified methodology grounded in the past years' approach, we have identified and reviewed some of the most high-impact publications on the topics that are revolutionizing TE and helping to define the future directions of the field, namely: (1) New trends in TE: Personalized/precision regenerative medicine and 3D bioprinting, (2) Contributions of TE to other fields: microfabricated tissue-engineered 3D models for cancer and other diseases research, and (3) Diagnostic and theranostic tools: monitoring and real-time control of TE systems.