Lung Regeneration. The Bioengineering Approach.

Pulmonary disease is a worldwide public health problem that reduces the quality of life and increases the need for hospital admissions as well as the risk for premature death for those affected. For many patients lung transplantation is the only chance for survival. Unfortunately, there is a significant shortage of lungs for transplantation, and many patients die before receiving a transplant. Recent use of acellular (AC) natural lung scaffolds by a number of research groups to engineer lung tissue has been a major scientific contribution to the field. These studies showed that engineered lung tissues grown in vitro are capable of surviving after in vivo transplantation and are able to support limited gas exchange in animal models. This manuscript discusses recent advances in the engineering of lung tissues as well as goals yet to be met in order to produce tissues worthy of clinical application in the future.