Autologous progenitor cells in a hydrogel form a supernumerary and functional skeletal muscle in vivo

Stem cells and regenerative medicine have obtained a remarkable consent from the scientific community for their promising ability to recover aged, injured and diseased tissue. However, despite the noteworthy potential, hurdles currently hinder their use and clinical application: cell survival, immune response, tissue engraftment and efficient differentiation. Hence a new interdisciplinary scientific approach, such as tissue engineering, is going deep attempts to mimic neo-tissue-genesis as well as stem cell engraftment amelioration. Skeletal muscle tissue engineering represents a great potentiality in medicine for muscle regeneration exploiting new generation injectable hydrogel as scaffold supporting progenitor/stem cells for muscle differentiation reconstructing the natural skeletal muscle tissue architecture influenced by matrix mechanical and physical property and by a dynamic environment.