Development and future of cell sheet-based tissue engineering

Abstract

Tissue engineering is the driving force behind advances in regenerative medicine. It is diversifying and different approaches are being developed. Our research group has established a technology that allows cells to be collected in sheets simply by lowering the temperature using a “temperature-responsive culture dish.” We have proposed a unique method “cell sheet-based tissue engineering” in which a single-layer cell sheet or laminated cell sheets is transplanted in the body. Regenerative therapies by cell sheet transplantation have already been clinically applied in seven areas. In addition, we have realized the construction of a functional three-dimensional tissue, especially beating cardiac tissue, by stacking cell sheets. We are also challenging the scale-up by introducing the vascular network. Furthermore, cell sheet engineering has been applied to the construction of tissue models necessary for drug discovery and disease research, and the production of cultured meat, which has become a hot topic in recent years. In this review, development and future of cell sheet-based tissue engineering are introduced and discussed.