Tissue engineering is a new technology to reconstruct tissue-like structures in vitro by mimicking cell environment in tissues and organs.
The technology has been applied in the fields of bioartificial organs and cell transplantations as regenerative medicine.
In recent years, human embryonic stem (ES) cell lines established and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells developed. They have been investigated their differentiation into various tissues and organs to use for regenerative medicine.
Thus, the development of effective tissue engineering technologies is highly desired nowadays.
In our laboratory, we have developed novel methodologies for cell patterning, construction of 3-D tissue-like structures, differentiation of pluripotent cells into functional cells, and establishment of pluripotent cell lines.