Exploring natural sources for tissue engineering developments.

Nature has evolved a number of strategies (material-structure) to generate outstanding functional materials that are typically multifunctional, dynamic and environmentally responsive (1). The conjugation of natural principles/materials/architectures is a new approach to tailor multifunctional material systems for biotechnological applications (2), including biomaterials. In particular, interest in naturally derived polymers includes the possibility of constructing multi-functional systems that can be manipulated in composition and structured for novel biotechnological uses in the field of tissue engineering, i.e., to mimic the tissue environment (chemistry/patterning/architecture/mechanical properties) required for cellular regeneration. The presentation will be focused on the function-structure relationships and processing of natural polymeric materials for the fabrication of responsive devices with applicability in regenerative medicine.