20 Nanotechnology for Engineering Cellular Microenvironment and Gene Delivery

Tissue engineering aims at repairing and restoring lost tissue structure and functions caused by disease processes or traumatic events (Langer and Vacanti 1993). Driven by clinical demands, extensive research efforts have been dedicated toward regenerating a broad range of tissues, from the skin, cartilage, bone, and blood vessels to more complex organ-level systems such as the bladder. Most tissue engineering strategies involve using one or a combination of three key components: (1) cells; (2) scaffolds; and (3) biological signals. Cells are the building blocks of biological tissues and cell-based therapy involves delivering cells directly into the body to help regenerate CONTENTS