Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 January 2014
A growing trend in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is to view cells, matrices, and whole tissues from a materials science perspective. The rationale behind this novel approach to considering biological problems is that the material properties at these different length scales both define their physical stability and also provide instructive cues. These cues can maintain homeostasis in healthy tissues or drive dynamic events during development, wound healing, and disease progression. However, one must map and characterize the physical properties of the natural extracellular matrix environment found in vivo in order to guide the design of synthetic or naturally derived materials to control cell function. This article reviews the study of natural tissues as materials, and sheds light on the use of this information to develop novel synthetic materials that guide cell function.