Longitudinal studies have indicated the involvement and performance of
multitudinous biomaterials for stem cell-based cytotherapy and regenerative medicine
largely attribute to their specific biocompatibility. Currently, stem cells and biomaterial
scaffolds have been considered as the two essential elements of the cornerstone of
tissue engineering. On the one hand, biomaterials are beneficial to provide suitable
microenvironments for enhancing the cellular vitality and therapeutic effect of stem
cells. On the other hand, biomaterial-induced fibrosis and inflammation remain a
prominent challenge in designing and synthesizing appropriate materials to facilitate
tissue repair and organ regeneration. In this book chapter, we summarize the classification and physicochemical properties of the indicated biomaterials, and appraise the
latest literatures of biomaterial and stem cell composite for broad biomedical
applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Collectively, we
retrospect the current advancement of biomaterial engineering and science, and
highlight the multifaceted biomaterial-assisted stem cell-based tissue engineering and
regenerative medicine, and in particular, the biomaterial-based composites with
mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) and the derivatives (e.g., exosomes, small
microvesicles) for intractable disease administration.
Keywords: Biomaterials, Biocompatibility, Clinical trials, Cancer immunotherapy, Exosomes, Hyaluronic acid, Hydrogels, Immunomodulation, Mmesenchymal stem/stromal cells, Microenvironment, Nanomaterials, Organ regeneration, Physicochemical properties, Preclinical applications, Regenerative medicine, Stem cells, Small microvesicles, Scaffold, Tissue engineering, Threedimensional printing.
