Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Cell sheet engineering allows for tissue regeneration by either direct transplantation of monolayer cell sheets to host tissues or the creation of three-dimensional structures via the layering of individual cell sheets.
OBJECTIVE: To introduce the application and its progress of cell sheet engineering in tissue engineering.
METHODS: Literature from Chinese Journal Full-Text Database (CNKI: 2000/2010) and Medline database (1990/2010) was searched by the first author using key words of “tissue engineering, temperature-responsive culture dishes, cell sheet engineering” in Chinese or English. The development of cell sheet engineering and its application in tissue engineering was reviewed from three aspects, that is, introduction of cell sheet engineering, application of cell sheet engineering, the shortcomings and solution of cell sheet engineering.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Totally 82 papers were initial searched, and 40 papers were included in this paper. The results show that tissue engineering can be an alternative promising method for organ transplantation in the treatment to injured and pathological tissue. The traditional tissue engineering method, biodegradable scaffolds, have achieved success in some aspects of tissue engineering, such as cartilage repair, bone repair and blood vessel repair. But its application has been restricted by the shortcoming of scaffolds. However, cell sheet engineering can be a good supplement to tissue engineering by avoiding using scaffolds. Cell sheet engineering has been proved useful in cornea repair, periodontal repair, pulmonary air leakage and so on. With the development of tissue engineering, cell sheet engineering should be an important tool for regenerative medicine.