Exploration of de novo tissue regeneration : With applications for skin and cartilage

Tissue engineering—aimed at regenerating deformities caused by trauma or congenital defects to restore, maintain, or enhance tissue function—is an area of intense development. Scientists are working to apply insights from the self-regenerative abilities of simpler organisms to human tissue regeneration, finding ways to heal wounds scar-free, and replacing damaged cartilage in loadbearing joints, thus alleviating any subsequent pain following cartilage degradation. Although significant strides have been made in these fields, the incentives for further research are plentiful. The present report aims to investigate the current research field in skin and cartilage regeneration in vitro and in vivo and provide a comprehensive review of the mechanisms by which planarians and axolotls are already able to regenerate tissue and lost body parts. Relevant and novel literature was reviewed in order to obtain an overview of the current state of the research field. It was found that many of the organisms with more developed selfregenerative abilities share several signalling pathways with humans; this knowledge may be applicable to human tissue regeneration. Skin regeneration in vitro is mainly shifted towards scaffold-based models which provide robust and durable skin analogs. Stem cells, stem cell-derived exosomes, and platelet-rich plasma collectively represent a multifaceted and synergistic approach to skin repair and regeneration in vivo. Within cartilage regeneration, there is a growing trend towards the use of hydrogel scaffolding methods, either cell-free or seeded with cells. Some researchers have begun developing scaffold-free methods as well to aid in cartilage regeneration. As of yet, there are limited clinical applications and to reach that stage, further studies are required.