Restoring organ functionregenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine aims at the generation of functional biological tissues for the replacement of diseased or impaired tissues. To do so, often (stem) cells are used in combination with a degradable biomaterial that serves as a temporary scaffold and which is replaced by the tissue in question. Tissue damage and biomaterials implanted into the body invariably evoke an inflammatory response, which sets the stage for tissue repair. The progression from inflammation to repair should be regulated in such a way that tissue repair is adequate, but often aberrant inflammation will lead to fibrosis.