Tissue engineering strategies for adipose tissue repair

Tissue engineering is a relatively young field that combines engineering, c linical science, and life sciences to, in part, repair or regrow tissues. A dipose tissue has recently become a focus area for tissue engineering, enco uraged by the large number of reconstructive, cosmetic, and correctional in dications that could be addressed with clinically translatable adipose tiss ue engineering strategies. This review discusses the three aspects of an ad ipose construct, namely cell types, scaffold, and microenvironment, and pre sents current tissue engineering strategies under pursuit. Anat Rec 263:361 -366, 2001. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.