Colloquium: Modeling the dynamics of multicellular systems: Application to tissue engineering

I Kosztin and G Vunjak-Novakovic and G Forgacs, REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS, 84, 1791-1805 (2012).

DOI: 10.1103/RevModPhys.84.1791

Tissue engineering is a rapidly evolving discipline that aims at building functional tissues to improve or replace damaged ones. To be successful in such an endeavor, ideally, the engineering of tissues should be based on the principles of developmental biology. Recent progress in developmental biology suggests that the formation of tissues from the composing cells is often guided by physical laws. Here a comprehensive computational-theoretical formalism is presented that is based on experimental input and incorporates biomechanical principles of developmental biology. The formalism is described and it is shown that it correctly reproduces and predicts the quantitative characteristics of the fundamental early developmental process of tissue fusion. Based on this finding, the formalism is then used toward the optimization of the fabrication of tubular multicellular constructs, such as a vascular graft, by bioprinting, a novel tissue engineering technology. DOI: 10.1103/RevModPhys.84.1791

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