Engineering fibrous tissues and their interfaces with bone

Abstract

Tendons and ligaments facilitate movement and provide stability to joints in the human body. However, current surgical treatments for fibrous tissue injuries, such as tissue grafts, pose problems of donor site morbidity (autografts) or potential for pathogen transfer (allografts). Tissue engineering techniques are being investigated to overcome current clinical challenges to regenerate injured fibrous tissues and their interfaces. This chapter discusses the basic structure and function of fibrous tissues, as well as tissue engineering methods using cells, scaffolds, and exogenous factors, to recreate both tendons/ligaments and their interfaces with surrounding bone.