Cellularized microcarriers as adhesive building blocks for fabrication of tubular tissue constructs

Waleed O. Twal, Sandra C. Klatt, Keerthi Harikrishnan, Ebtesam Gerges, Marion A. Cooley, Thomas C. Trusk, Boran Zhou, Mohamed G. Gabr, Tarek Shazly, Susan M. Lessner, Roger R. Markwald, W. Scott Argraves

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

To meet demands of vascular reconstruction, there is a need for prosthetic alternatives to natural blood vessels. Here we explored a new conduit fabrication approach. Macroporous, gelatin microcarriers laden with human umbilical vein endothelial cells and aortic smooth muscle cells were dispensed into tubular agarose molds and found to adhere to form living tubular tissues. The ability of cellularized microcarriers to adhere to one another involved cellular and extracellular matrix bridging that included the formation of epithelium-like cell layers lining the lumenal and ablumenal surfaces of the constructs and the deposition of collagen and elastin fibers. The tubular tissues behaved as elastic solids, with a uniaxial mechanical response that is qualitatively similar to that of native vascular tissues and consistent with their elastin and collagen composition. Linearized measures of the mechanical response of the fabricated tubular tissues at both low and high strains were observed to increase with duration of static culture, with no significant loss of stiffness following decellularization. The findings highlight the utility of cellularized macroporous gelatin microcarriers as self-adhering building blocks for the fabrication of living tubular structures.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1470-1481
Number of pages12
JournalAnnals of Biomedical Engineering
Volume42
Issue number7
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Biomaterial
  • Collagen
  • Cultispher
  • Elastic
  • Elastin
  • Endothelial cells
  • Isotropic
  • Macroporous microcarriers
  • Replacement blood vessels
  • Tissue engineering
  • Vascular smooth muscle cells

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biomedical Engineering

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