Gravity, Tissue Engineering, and the Missing Link

Raquel Costa-Almeida; Pedro L Granja; Manuela E Gomes

doi:10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.10.017

Gravity, Tissue Engineering, and the Missing Link

Trends Biotechnol. 2018 Apr;36(4):343-347. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.10.017. Epub 2017 Nov 16.

Authors

Raquel Costa-Almeida¹, Pedro L Granja², Manuela E Gomes³

Affiliations

¹ 3B's Research Group - Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Avepark - Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal; ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/raquelccalmeida.
² i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Universidade do Porto, Rua Alfredo Allen, 208, 4200-135 Porto, Portugal; INEB - Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Faculdade de Engenharia, Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal; ICBAS - Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/plgranja.
³ 3B's Research Group - Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Avepark - Parque de Ciência e Tecnologia, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal; ICVS/3B's - PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal; The Discoveries Centre for Regenerative and Precision Medicine, Headquarters at University of Minho, Avepark, 4805-017 Barco, Guimarães, Portugal. Electronic address: megomes@dep.uminho.pt.

PMID: 29153346
DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2017.10.017

Abstract

The influence of microgravity and hypergravity on living systems has attracted significant attention, but the use of these tools in tissue engineering (TE) remains relatively unexplored. This Forum article highlights an emerging field of research to uncover new potential applications at the interface between altered gravity and TE.

Keywords: cell/tissue biology; hypergravity; in vitro 3D culture; microgravity; regenerative medicine; tissue engineering.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Cell Culture Techniques
Embryonic Stem Cells
Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells
Humans
Hypergravity*
Mesenchymal Stem Cells
Mice
PC12 Cells
Rats
Regenerative Medicine
Tissue Engineering*
Weightlessness*