Abstract

Scaffolds can be used for tissue engineering either on their own or as delivery vehicles for autologous cells isolated from the circulation and bone marrow. Present research in the area aims to use porous, bioactive matrices as hosts for living cells. In the case of biomaterials used for orthopaedic applications, a bioactive matrix is required for the donor mesenchymal stem cells, obtained from bone and marrow, to exhibit phenotypic characteristics of bone cells and to develop strong adhesion to the porous matrix. This talk will give a brief overview of the range of ceramic and composite scaffolds, both dense and porous, which are used or can potentially be used in the field of musculoskeletal tissue engineering. Recent work done by the author incorporating various relevant human cell types, including osteoblasts, chondrocytes and marrow-derived stromal cells, into a range of porous biomaterials will also be presented. Most recently, promising results have been obtained incorporating human embryonic stem cells into porous bioactive glass and collagen-GAG matrices in short-term culture and these will be described.