Photosymbiotic tissue engineering and regeneration

As the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine progresses, the possibility for artificial organs to restore normal tissue functions seems to become more feasible. However, a major challenge in the long-term culture of the engineered tissues is the lack of adequate oxygenation. The photosynthetic supply of oxygen (O2) for tissues and organs using photoautotrophic microorganisms has been explored recently in both in vitro and in vivo studies. The biofabrication of photosymbiotic scaffolds using biomaterials, photosynthetic microorganisms, and human cells has shown constant generation of O2 in response to light illumination while avoiding hypoxic conditions. This emerging strategy of photosymbiotic oxygenation is potentially an attractive approach to overcome the need of adequate oxygenation in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. This Perspective aims to present an overview on the applications of photoautotrophic microorganism-enabled oxygenation strategies for overcoming hypoxia-related challenges in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.