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Updated: Jun 24, 2026
Tissue-Engineered Graft for Circumferential Esophageal Reconstruction in Rats
Published on: February 10, 2020
Esophagus tissue engineering: hybrid approach with esophageal epithelium and unidirectional smooth muscle tissue
Amulya K Saxena1, Kristina Kofler, Herwig Ainödhofer
1Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Surgery, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz-34, 8036 Graz, Austria. amulya.saxena@meduni-graz.at
Purpose:
The aim of this study was to engineer the two main components of the esophagus in vitro: (a) esophageal epithelium and (b) smooth muscle tissue. Furthermore, (a) survivability of esophageal epithelial cells (EEC) on basement membrane matrix (BMM)-coated scaffolds and (b) oriented smooth muscle tissue formation on unidirectional BMM-coated collagen scaffolds was investigated.
Methods:
Both EEC and smooth muscle cells (SMC) were sourced from Sprague-Dawley rats. The EEC were maintained in vitro and seeded onto BMM-coated 2-D collagen scaffolds. Similarly, smooth muscle cells were obtained using an explants technique and seeded on unidirectional 3-D BMM-coated collagen scaffolds. Cell-polymer constructs for EEC and SMC were maintained in vitro for 8 weeks.
Results:
Protocols to obtain higher yield of EEC were established. EEC formed a layer of differentiated epithelium after 14 days. EEC survivability on polymers was observed up to 8 weeks. Unidirectional smooth muscle tissue strands were successfully engineered.
Conclusion:
Esophageal epithelium generation, survivability of EEC on BMM-coated scaffolds, and engineering of unidirectional smooth muscle strands were successful in vitro. The hybrid approach of assembling individual tissue components in vitro using BMM-coated scaffolds and later amalgamating them to form composite tissue holds promises in the tissue engineering of complex organ systems.
