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Microstructured Extracellular Matrices in Tissue Engineering and Development: An Update

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Abstract

Microstructured extracellular matrix (ECM), which contains heterogeneous features of the same size scale (5–100 μm) as tissue organoids, has become an important material for the engineering of functional tissues and for the study of tissue-level biology. This review describes methods to generate this class of ECM, and highlights recent advances in the application of microstructured ECM to problems in basic and applied biology. It also discusses computational techniques to analyze and optimize the microstructural patterns for a desired functional output.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, 44 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA, 02215, USA

    Joe Tien

  2. Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Boston University, Brookline, MA, USA

    Joe Tien

  3. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, 303 Hoyt Laboratory, William Street, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA

    Celeste M. Nelson

  4. Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Celeste M. Nelson

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Correspondence to Joe Tien or Celeste M. Nelson.

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Associate Editor Tzung Hsiai oversaw the review of this article.

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Tien, J., Nelson, C.M. Microstructured Extracellular Matrices in Tissue Engineering and Development: An Update. Ann Biomed Eng 42, 1413–1423 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-013-0912-5

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