title: Modularity in developmental biology and artificial organs: a missing concept in tissue engineering.
abstract: Tissue engineering is reviving itself, adopting the concept of biomimetics of in vivo tissue development. A basic concept of developmental biology is the modularity of the tissue architecture according to which intermediates in tissue development constitute semiautonomous entities. Both engineering and nature have chosen the modular architecture to optimize the product or organism development and evolution. Bioartificial tissues do not have a modular architecture. On the contrary, artificial organs of modular architecture have been already developed in the field of artificial organs. Therefore the conceptual support of tissue engineering by the field of artificial organs becomes critical in its new endeavor of recapitulating in vitro the in vivo tissue development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology IV, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. plenas@opt.ucm.es
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lenas
authors.forename: Frank P
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Luyten
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doblare
authors.forename: Eleni
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nicodemou-Lena
authors.forename: Andreina Elena
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Lanzara
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001187:Artificial Organs / Q000639:trends*; D021522:Bioartificial Organs / Q000639:trends; D032701:Biomimetics / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*