Mechanobiology in Soft Tissue Engineering

Abstract Musculoskeletal soft tissues (e.g., cartilage, tendon, ligament, skeletal muscle) are highly organized and adapt to complex and distinct loadings they experience in vivo. The prominent role of mechanobiology, in native tissue development and function, has given rise to various tissue engineering (TE) approaches that utilize bioreactors to apply dynamic mechanical stimulation, in an attempt to engineer functional soft tissue replacements, or disease state models. Current TE approaches are largely scaffold-based, wherein a natural or synthetic scaffold provides the provisional structure to support the developing constructs and ensure cells receive requisite mechanical cues. More recently, scaffold-free TE approaches have emerged, exploiting the cells' natural abilities to self-assemble and deposit matrix in order to form a construct that can be mechanically stimulated. Regardless of the approach, the improved biomechanical properties, composition, and structural organization observed with incorporation of various dynamic loading protocols highlights the important role of mechanobiology in current and future soft TE approaches.