title: Tissue engineering and microRNAs: future perspectives in regenerative medicine.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Tissue engineering is a growing area of biomedical research, holding great promise for a broad range of potential applications in the field of regenerative medicine. In recent decades, multiple tissue engineering strategies have been adopted to mimic and improve specific biological functions of tissues and organs, including biomimetic materials, drug-releasing scaffolds, stem cells, and dynamic culture systems. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), noncoding small RNAs that negatively regulate the expression of downstream target mRNAs, are considered a novel class of molecular targets and therapeutics that may play an important role in tissue engineering.
  
  
  METHODS
  Herein, we highlight the latest achievements in regenerative medicine, focusing on the role of miRNAs as key modulators of gene expression, stem cell self-renewal, proliferation and differentiation, and eventually in driving cell fate decisions. Finally, we will discuss the contribution of miRNAs in regulating the rearrangement of the tissue microenvironment and angiogenesis, and the range of strategies for miRNA delivery into target cells and tissues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Manipulation of miRNAs is an alternative approach and an attractive strategy for controlling several aspects of tissue engineering, although some issues concerning their in vivo effects and optimal delivery methods still remain uncovered.
authors.affiliation: a 1 Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Tissue Engineering Lab , Rome, Italy m.gori@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: Manuele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gori
authors.affiliation: a 1 Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Tissue Engineering Lab , Rome, Italy m.gori@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: Marcella
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trombetta
authors.affiliation: b 2 Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Division of Medical Oncology , Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Santini
authors.affiliation: a 1 Università Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, Tissue Engineering Lab , Rome, Italy m.gori@unicampus.it.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rainer
mesh_terms: D002454:Cell Differentiation; D060833:Cellular Microenvironment; D006801:Humans; D008081:Liposomes / Q000378:metabolism; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic; D044968:Regenerative Medicine; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D023822:Tissue Engineering; D014945:Wound Healing
chemical_list: D008081:Liposomes; D035683:MicroRNAs
keywords: angiogenesis; microRNAs; microenvironment; regenerative medicine; scaffold; stem cells; tissue engineering; viral vectors