Porous collagen scaffolds enable endothelial lumen formation in vitro under both static and dynamic growth conditions.
Lena RösslerRamin NasehiNadja HansenSanja AveicHorst FischerPublished in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part B, Applied biomaterials (2024)
Despite recent advances in the field of tissue engineering, the development of complex tissue-like structures in vitro is compromised by the lack of integration of a functioning vasculature. In this study, we propose a mesoscale three-dimensional (3D) in vitro vascularized connective tissue model and demonstrate its feasibility to prompt the self-assembly of endothelial cells into vessel-like structures. Moreover, we investigate the effect of perfusion on the organization of the cells. For this purpose, primary endothelial cells (HUVECs) and a cell line of human foreskin fibroblasts are cultivated in ECM-like matrices made up of freeze-dried collagen scaffolds permeated with collagen type I hydrogel. A tailored bioreactor is designed to investigate the effect of perfusion on self-organization of HUVECs. Immunofluorescent staining, two-photon microscopy, second-harmonic generation imaging, and scanning electron microscopy are applied to visualize the spatial arrangement of the cells. The analyses reveal the formation of hollow, vessel-like structures of HUVECs in hydrogel-permeated collagen scaffolds under both static and dynamic conditions. In conclusion, we demonstrate the feasibility of a 3D porous collagen scaffolding system that enables and maintains the self-organization of HUVECs into vessel-like structures independent of a dynamic flow.
Keyphrases
- tissue engineering
- endothelial cells
- high resolution
- electron microscopy
- induced apoptosis
- cell cycle arrest
- high glucose
- vascular endothelial growth factor
- oxidative stress
- mass spectrometry
- wastewater treatment
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- cell proliferation
- genome wide
- single molecule
- high throughput
- smoking cessation
- computed tomography
- living cells
- ultrasound guided
- pluripotent stem cells