Bio-electrospraying and cell electrospinning: Progress and opportunities for basic biology and clinical sciences

Abstract

Engineering of functional tissues is a fascinating and fertile arena of research and development. This flourishing enterprise weaves together many areas of research to tackle the most complex question faced to date, namely how to design and reconstruct a synthetic three-dimensional fully functional tissue on demand. At present our healthcare is under threat by several social and economical issues together with those of a more scientifi c and clinical nature. One such issue arises from our increasing life expectancy, resulting in an ageing society. This steeply growing ageing society requires functional organotypic tissues on demand for repair, replacement, and rejuvenation (R3). Several approaches are pioneered and developed to assist conventional tissue/organ transplantation. In this Progress Report, "non-contact jet-based" approaches for engineering functional tissues are introduced and bio-electrosprays and cell electrospinning, i.e., biotechniques that have demonstrated as being benign for directly handling living cells and whole organisms, are highlighted. These biotechniques possess the ability to directly handle heterogeneous cell populations as suspensions with a biopolymer and/or other micro/nanomaterials for directly forming three-dimensional functional living reconstructs. These discoveries and developments have provided a promising biotechnology platform with far-reaching ramifi cations for a wide range of applications in basic biological laboratories to their utility in the clinic. © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.