Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering Michael Cho, Ph.D. Bioengineering Grant Support: National Institutes of Health (RO

1. Stem Cell-Based Tissue Engineering Michael Cho, Ph.D. Bioengineering Grant Support: National Institutes of Health (RO1), Office of Naval Research Problem Statement and Motivation Current Tissue Engineering Strategies • The costs associated with tissue loss or organ failure have been estimated over several hundreds of billion dollars. • Severe shortage of tissues and organs continues to persist and cannot adequately be overcome. • Tissue engineering attempts to control, manipulate, and reconstitute tissues in vitro ultimately for in vivo use to repair and replace damage tissues, and therefore offers a viable alternative. • Recently, the use of stem cells in tissue engineering has advanced exciting possibilities for numerous biomedical and clinical applications Key Achievements and Future Goals Technical Approach • We have successfully created an in vitro articular cartilage using mesenchymal stem cells and nanofibers. • We have enhanced and facilitated stem cell differentiation into bone cells by optimizing biochemical signal molecules with physical force. • Exploiting electrical nature of cells, we have also demonstrated cell orientation and alignment in 3D tissue by applying non-invasive electrical stimulus. • Future: Translate these laboratory results to clinical settings, including animal models and eventually human trials. Ultimate goal is to engineer tissues that can be implanted to treat and regenerate lost and damage tissues. • Both bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and embryonic stem cell lines are used to engineer several tissues including bone and cartilage, just to name a few. • Regulation of stem cell proliferation and tissue-specific differentiation by biochemical and physical cues appears to lead to enhanced regenerative capability that will likely result in desired integrity and functionality. • The latest excitement in tissue engineering is to apply nanomaterials to mimic the native cellular environment at the nanoscale. This, combined with chemical and physical cues, is expected to provide an ideal 3D template for biocompatible scaffolds.