Scaffolds for skeletal muscle tissue engineering

The ability of skeletal muscle to regenerate after acute injury is compromised in the case of disease or massive traumatic injury (i.e., volumetric muscle loss). An understanding of the mechanisms by which skeletal muscle can acutely regenerate has informed the development of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine-based approaches to treat muscle injuries traditionally considered irreparable using both cell-based and acellular approaches. This chapter discusses the use of stem cells and diverse scaffold materials, synthetic, biosynthetic, and biologic in nature, to promote functional myogenesis. The preclinical and clinical progress of each of these methods and barriers to their further utility as a clinical therapy are discussed.