Current therapeutic modalities to treat urethral strictures are associated with several challenges and shortcomings. Therefore, significant strides have been made to develop strategies with minimal side effects and the highest therapeutic potential. In this framework, electrospun scaffolds incorporated with various cells or bioactive agents have provided promising vistas to repair urethral defects. Due to the biomimetic nature of these constructs, they can efficiently mimic the native cells' niches and provide essential microenvironmental cues for the safe transplantation of multiple cell types. Furthermore, these scaffolds are versatile platforms for delivering various drug molecules, growth factors, and nucleic acids. This review discusses the recent progress, applications, and challenges of electrospun scaffolds to deliver cells or bioactive agents during the urethral defect repair process. First, the current status of electrospinning in urethral tissue engineering is presented. Then, the principles of electrospinning in drug and cell delivery applications are reviewed. Finally, the recent preclinical studies are summarized and the current challenges are discussed.
International journal of molecular sciences. 2022 Sep 10*** epublish ***
Saeed Farzamfar, Elissa Elia, Stéphane Chabaud, Mohammad Naji, Stéphane Bolduc
Centre de Recherche en Organogénèse Expérimentale/LOEX, Regenerative Medicine Division, CHU de Québec-Université Laval Research Center, Québec, QC G1J 1Z4, Canada., Urology and Nephrology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1666677951, Iran.