Engineered Polymeric Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering

Development of cell-instructive polymeric biomaterials is an area of intense research that has garnered widespread attention over the past decades and is critical to the clinical and commercial success in tissue engineering. Central to the reconstruction of complex tissues, it will require high levels of biochemical-biophysical sophistication and that must be incorporated as part of the scaffold design to impart bio-functionality. In this review, we will provide a historical account on the concept of “scaffolding materials” with the emphasis on the utilization of polymer based biomaterials and how the concept has evolved over the past decades. Enabling technologies across different length scales (10-9 – 10-3m) and synthesis of novel biomaterials will also be addressed as key contributing factors that can significantly alter cellular behaviors and tissue morphogenesis.