Trends in Biotechnology
Volume 40, Issue 8, August 2022, Pages 945-957
Journal home page for Trends in Biotechnology

Review
Engineering tissue morphogenesis: taking it up a Notch

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2022.01.007Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Notch signaling drives tissue patterning and morphogenesis during development and in the adult. Thus, targeting Notch can help to engineer tissues with defined form and function.

  • Mimicking Notch-mediated patterning will require high spatiotemporal resolution for recapitulating in vivo patterning events.

  • Targeting Notch signaling through materials functionalized with immobilized ligands is an engineering-friendly tool for controlling cell fate decisions with local precision and dose control.

  • Important challenges remain in transforming the available concepts and tools into effective tissue-patterning strategies for regenerative medicine.

Recreating functional tissues through bioengineering strategies requires steering of complex cell fate decisions. Notch, a juxtacrine signaling pathway, regulates cell fate and controls cellular organization with local precision. The engineering-friendly characteristics of the Notch pathway provide handles for engineering tissue patterning and morphogenesis. We discuss the physiological significance and mechanisms of Notch signaling with an emphasis on its potential use for engineering complex tissues. We highlight the current state of the art of Notch activation and provide a view on the design aspects, opportunities, and challenges in modulating Notch for tissue-engineering strategies. We propose that finely tuned control of Notch contributes to the generation of tissues with accurate form and functionality.

Keywords

Notch signaling
Notch signaling modulation
tissue patterning
morphogenesis
ligand immobilization

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6

Equal contributions