Bladder tissue engineering.

The bladder can lose the ability to store and empty effectively as a result of numerous conditions. When conservative methods to maximize patient safety and quality of life fail, surgical reconstruction of the bladder is usually considered. Augmentation cystoplasty can be performed with the use of the small bowel, large bowel, or less often, stomach. An alternative approach, tissue engineering, identifies the body's own potential for regeneration and supports this propensity with appropriate raw materials and growth factors so that the body's original structure and function may be restored. Tissue engineering can involve the use of a scaffold or matrix alone or of cell-seeded matrices. Harvesting cells and culturing them has become an important tool in tissue engineering. Multiple possibilities for sources of cells have been investigated, including stem cells and differentiated cells from organs other than the bladder; however, to date, autologous bladder cells remain the gold standard for culture and seeding.