title: Endothelial progenitor cell sprouting in spheroid cultures is resistant to inhibition by osteoblasts: a model for bone replacement grafts.
abstract: Survival of tissue transplants generated in vitro is strongly limited by the slow process of graft vascularization in vivo. A method to enhance graft vascularization is to establish a primitive vascular plexus within the graft prior to transplantation. Endothelial cells (EC) cultured as multicellular spheroids within a collagen matrix form sprouts resembling angiogenesis in vitro. However, osteoblasts integrated into the graft suppress EC sprouting. This inhibition depends on direct cell-cell-interactions and is characteristic of mature ECs isolated from preexisting vessels. In contrast, sprouting of human blood endothelial progenitor cells is not inhibited by osteoblasts, making these cells suitable for tissue engineering of pre-vascularized bone grafts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Vascular Biology Program, Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Karp 12004G, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stahl
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wenger
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klagsbrun
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kurschat
mesh_terms: D018786:Bone Substitutes; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D010006:Osteoblasts / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
chemical_list: D018786:Bone Substitutes