title: A novel pulsatile, laminar flow bioreactor for the development of tissue-engineered vascular structures.
abstract: Exposure of vascular cell-seeded, tubular, biodegradable polymers to pulsatile flow conditions has been proposed as a method to develop tissue-engineered blood vessels by "maturing" structural integrity, and increasing collagen content, suture retention, burst pressure, and tissue formation. These in vitro tissue-engineered arteries demonstrate contractile responses to pharmacologic agents and express markers of vascular differentiation. Current methods to induce pulsatile flow in a bioreactor system are limited by the creation of nonphysiologic pressure waveforms and noncompliant reservoirs to house the tissue-engineered vascular constructs. We have developed a novel method for the in vitro development of tubular vascular structures by using a mechanical ventilator to induce pulsatile, laminar flow into a fluid column, resulting in pressurized waveforms similar to mammalian physiology. The vascular constructs are housed in semicompliant tubing to facilitate an additional variable of circumferential stretch as a potential signaling mechanism. This approach more closely approximates mammalian physiology and we hypothesize that it will facilitate mechanical signaling necessary for the development of tissue-engineered vessels for clinical applications.
authors.affiliation: Cardiac Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. cathompson@partners.org
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Colon-Hernandez
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pomerantseva
authors.forename: Brian D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: MacNeil
authors.forename: Boris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nasseri
authors.forename: Joseph P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Vacanti
authors.forename: Stephen N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Oesterle
mesh_terms: D019149:Bioreactors; D001808:Blood Vessels; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000502:physiology; D011100:Polyglycolic Acid; D023822:Tissue Engineering / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D011100:Polyglycolic Acid