Biofabrication and biomaterials for urinary tract reconstruction

Abstract

Reconstructive urologists are constantly facing diverse and complex pathologies that require structural and functional restoration of urinary organs. There is always a demand for a biocompatible material to repair or substitute the urinary tract instead of using patient’s autologous tissues with its associated morbidity. Biomimetic approaches are tissue-engineering tactics aiming to tailor the material physical and biological properties to behave physiologically similar to the urinary system. This review highlights the different strategies to mimic urinary tissues including modifications in structure, surface chemistry, and cellular response of a range of biological and synthetic materials. The article also outlines the measures to minimize infectious complications, which might lead to graft failure. Relevant experimental and preclinical studies are discussed, as well as promising biomimetic approaches such as three-dimensional bioprinting.

Keywords:

• reconstruction
• biofunctionalization
• tissue engineering
• urinary tract

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Professor Anthony R Mundy and Miss Daniela E Andrich for their helpful comments and Dr Dina Okasha for proofreading the article and assisting with the figure. MME is sponsored by University of Alexandria/the Ministry of Higher Education, Government of Egypt. AdM is a coinvestigator of Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) project EP/L020904/1.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.