Tissue Engineering: Principles, Protocols, and Practical Exercises

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is a new, interdisciplinary branch of science that combines knowledge from numerous scientific fields including biology, biochemistry, physics, chemistry, applied engineering, and medicine. It aims to restore damaged parts of the human body by rebuilding them in vitro using individual building blocks of biological tissues such as cells and the extracellular matrix that surrounds them. The authors hope to spark students’ interest in this exciting new field of science as well as give them a basic knowledge of its terminology.

This book is based on a hands-on practical course in tissue engineering conducted by the Fulbright US Scholar recipient, Dr. Narine Sarvazyan (George Washington University, Washington USA). It provides an overview of the core topics of the tissue engineering field, including stem cell differentiation, the role of extracellular matrix and attachment proteins, scaffolds, and culturing of engineered tissues.Each chapter is accompanied by hands-on demonstrations and self-check questions. The text is easily readable for students of all backgrounds and the described protocols can be conducted using common lab equipment. This textbook is also useful for developing undergraduate and graduate courses that teach basic methods and approaches in this promising and rapidly developing field.

The editor of this book, Narine Sarvazyan, PhD, is a Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Her lab focuses on exploring the mechanisms of cardiac arrhythmias, cardiotoxicity of cancer drugs, the role of environmental contaminants in heart disease, and tissue-engineering based therapies for heart and vessel repair.  In the Fall of 2017, Dr. Sarvazyan received the Fulbright US Scholar award that enabled her to develop and conduct an introductory, hands-on course in tissue engineering. The course was held on the premises of the Orbeli’s Institute of Physiology, Armenian National Academy of Sciences using the facilities and equipment of the Tissue Engineering and Im-munology Laboratory led by Dr. Zaruhi Karabekian. Dr. Karabekian served as a co-instructor in the course, while two of her lab members, Drs. Hovhannes Arestakesyan and Vahan Grigorian, provided valuable contributions during and after the course as teaching assistants. This book is an outcome of this course. Seven out of twelve students who took the course contributed to specific chapters of this book. Hasmik Mikaelyan, regional coordinator of the Fulbright program in Armenia, and Dr. Naira Ayvazian, Director of the Orbeli Institute of Physiology, are gratefully acknowledged for their support and encouragement throughout these activities.