title: Tubular organ epithelialisation.
abstract: Hollow, tubular organs including oesophagus, trachea, stomach, intestine, bladder and urethra may require repair or replacement due to disease. Current treatment is considered an unmet clinical need, and tissue engineering strategies aim to overcome these by fabricating synthetic constructs as tissue replacements. Smart, functionalised synthetic materials can act as a scaffold base of an organ and multiple cell types, including stem cells can be used to repopulate these scaffolds to replace or repair the damaged or diseased organs. Epithelial cells have not yet completely shown to have efficacious cell-scaffold interactions or good functionality in artificial organs, thus limiting the success of tissue-engineered grafts. Epithelial cells play an essential part of respective organs to maintain their function. Without successful epithelialisation, hollow organs are liable to stenosis, collapse, extensive fibrosis and infection that limit patency. It is clear that the source of cells and physicochemical properties of scaffolds determine the successful epithelialisation. This article presents a review of tissue engineering studies on oesophagus, trachea, stomach, small intestine, bladder and urethral constructs conducted to actualise epithelialised grafts.
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Rhea
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saksena
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Chuanyu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wicox
authors.affiliation: Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Achala
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Mel
keywords: Tubular scaffolds; biofunctionalisation; epithelialisation; hollow organs