title: A novel strategy for engineering vascularized grafts in vitro.
abstract: Tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary field promising new therapeutic means for replacing lost or severely damaged tissues or organs. However, the fabrication of complex engineered tissues has been hampered due to the lack of vascularization to provide sufficient blood supply after implantation. In this article, we propose using rapid prototyping technology to prefabricate a scaffold with an inside hollowed vascular system including an arterial end, a venous end and capillary networks between them. The scaffold will be ''printed'' layer by layer. When printing every layer, a ''low-melting point'' material will be used to form a blood vessel network and a tissue-specific material will be used outside it. Hereafter the 'low-melting point' material will be evacuated by vaporization to ensure a hollowed vessel network. Then the inside hollowed capillary network can be endothelialized by using autologous endothelial cells in a cycling bioreactor while the outside material can be embedded with tissue-special cells. In the end, the new vascularized autologous grafts could be transferred to the defect site by using microsurgical techniques to connect the grafts with the host artery and vein. The strategy would facilitate construction of complex tissue engineering if the hypothesis proved to be practical.
authors: Jin-Chun Liu, Department of Research Center, Plastic Surgery Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, No.33 BaDaChu Roud, ShiJingShan District, Beijing 100144, China.
authors: Jin-Chun
authors: JC
authors: Liu
references: Trends Biotechnol. 2008 Aug;26(8):434-41
references: 18585808
references: Trends Biotechnol. 2003 Apr;21(4):157-61
references: 12679063
references: Plast Reconstr Surg. 1998 Mar;101(3):577-81
references: 9500374
references: J Mater Sci Mater Med. 2005 Dec;16(12):1121-4
references: 16362210
references: Regen Med. 2009 Jan;4(1):65-80
references: 19105617
references: Mund Kiefer Gesichtschir. 2000 Sep;4 Suppl 2:S490-5
references: 11094522
references: N Engl J Med. 2001 Feb 15;344(7):532-3
references: 11221621
references: Clin Plast Surg. 2003 Jan;30(1):91-103, vii
references: 12636219
references: Nat Biotechnol. 2005 Jul;23(7):879-84
references: 15965465
references: Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2001 Nov;944:429-42
references: 11797691
references: J Cell Mol Med. 2007 Sep-Oct;11(5):945-57
references: 17979876
references: Lab Chip. 2009 Aug 21;9(16):2391-4
references: 19636471
references: Ann Med. 2008;40(4):268-80
references: 18428020
references: Transplantation. 2009 Jul 27;88(2):203-10
references: 19623015
references: Adv Mater. 2008;20(1):99-103
references: 19440248