title: Challenges and opportunities for tissue-engineering polarized epithelium.
abstract: The epithelium is one of the most important tissue types in the body and the specific organization of the epithelial cells in these tissues is important for achieving appropriate function. Since many tissues contain an epithelial component, engineering functional epithelium and understanding the factors that control epithelial maturation and organization are important for generating whole artificial organ replacements. Furthermore, disruption of the cellular organization leads to tissue malfunction and disease; therefore, engineered epithelium could provide a valuable in vitro model to study disease phenotypes. Despite the importance of epithelial tissues, a surprisingly limited amount of effort has been focused on organizing epithelial cells into artificial polarized epithelium with an appropriate structure that resembles that seen in vivo. In this review, we provide an overview of epithelial tissue organization and highlight the importance of cell polarization to achieve appropriate epithelium function. We next describe the in vitro models that exist to create polarized epithelium and summarize attempts to engineer artificial epithelium for clinical use. Finally, we highlight the opportunities that exist to translate strategies from tissue engineering other tissues to generate polarized epithelium with a functional structure.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto , Toronto, ON, Canada .
authors.forename: Ana C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Paz
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Soleas
authors.forename: James C H
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Poon
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Trieu
authors.forename: Thomas K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Waddell
authors.forename: Alison P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: McGuigan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D018929:Cell Culture Techniques; D018920:Coculture Techniques; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D010641:Phenotype; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000379:methods*