Smart Instructive Polymer Substrates for Tissue Engineering

Abstract

The development of instructive substrates with application in tissue regeneration has become the focus of intense research in recent years. The term “instructive” is applied to responsive polymeric substrates that are able to regulate cell behavior in response to external factors. This chapter will describe reported strategies to combine material response to environmental changes with signaling molecules for generating well-controlled cellular microenvironments. Biomaterials with response to temperature, pH, light, electrical or magnetic fields, or to the presence of biochemical signals are highlighted, together with their application in tissue engineering strategies.