title: Rapid Fabrication of a Cell-Seeded Collagen Gel-Based Tubular Construct that Withstands Arterial Pressure : Rapid Fabrication of a Gel-Based Media Equivalent.
abstract: Based on plastically compressed cell-seeded collagen gels, we fabricated a small-diameter tubular construct that withstands arterial pressure without prolonged culture in vitro. Specifically, to mimic the microstructure of vascular media, the cell-seeded collagen gel was uniaxially stretched prior to plastic compression to align collagen fibers and hence cells in the gel. The resulting gel sheet was then wrapped around a custom-made multi-layered braided tube to form aligned tubular constructs whereas the gel sheet prepared similarly but without uniaxial stretching formed control constructs. With the braided tube, fluid in the gel construct was further removed by vacuum suction aiming to consolidate the concentric layers of the construct. The construct was finally treated with transglutaminase. Both SEM and histology confirmed the absence of gaps in the wall of the construct. Particularly, cells in the wall of the aligned tubular construct were circumferentially aligned. The enzyme-mediated crosslinking increased burst pressure of both the constructs significantly; the extent of the increase of burst pressure for the aligned tubular construct was greater than that for the control counterpart. Increasing crosslinking left the compliance of the aligned tubular construct unchanged but reduced that of the control construct. Cells remained viable in transglutaminase-treated plastically compressed gels after 6 days in culture. This study demonstrated that by combining stretch-induced fiber alignment, plastic compression, and enzyme-mediated crosslinking, a cell-seeded collagen gel-based tubular construct with potential to be used as vascular media can be made within 3 days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, #1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ho-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Tuan-Mu
authors.affiliation: Department of Fiber and Composite Materials, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Po-Ching
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, #1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan.|Orthopedic Department, Showchwan Memorial Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Pei-Yuan
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Scientific Research Division, Life Science Group, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Scientific Research Division, Life Science Group, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, Hsinchu, Taiwan.|Institute of Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Jung
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biotechnology, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Lynn L H
authors.initials: LLH
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Fiber and Composite Materials, Feng Chia University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jia-Horng
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, #1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan. jjhu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.|Medical Device Innovation Center, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan. jjhu@mail.ncku.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Jin-Jia
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D001705:Bioprosthesis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D002460:Cell Line; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D005782:Gels; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D005782:Gels; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Cell-seeded collagen gels; Mechanical properties; Plastic compression; Stretch-induced fiber alignment; Transglutaminase-mediated crosslinking; Vascular mechanics; Vascular tissue engineering