Immunomodulatory Delivery Materials for Tissue Repair.

Abstract

The immune system plays a critical role in the efficacy of regenerative medicine biotechnology, often mediated by delivery biomaterials. In this review, materials design approaches and challenges for the delivery of biomaterial platforms to endogenous cells and tissues to control their function are discussed. These delivery biomaterials can recruit and direct the phenotypes of cells including macrophages, T cells, and mesenchymal stem cells. Key considerations regarding the relevant cell types for tissue engineering and how biomaterials can be used to engineer the optimal immune microenvironment for tissue regeneration are described. The major classes of biomaterial delivery strategies utilized for immunomodulation in the context of tissue repair -scaffold-, cell-, and particle-mediated delivery- are reviewed along with how to utilize them to aid in tissue regeneration.