A biocompatible endothelial cell delivery system for in vitro tissue engineering

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Engineering
• Tissue Engineering
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• Engineering complex tissues like cardiac muscle requires integrated microvasculature.
• In vitro prevascularization often relies on co-culturing cells on porous matrices to enable microvessel formation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate endothelial cell behavior and function on a porous poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) scaffold.
• To develop a flexible, biocompatible endothelial cell delivery system for cardiac tissue engineering with neovascularization potential.

Main Methods:

• Examined endothelial cell adhesion, survival, and proliferation on 3D PGS scaffolds.
• Assessed static and perfusion cell seeding methods and the impact of extracellular matrix components (laminin).
• Determined endothelial cell phenotype and anticoagulant properties under flow conditions.

Main Results:

• Laminin surface coating significantly enhanced endothelial cell adhesion, survival, and proliferation.
• Flow application regulated endothelial cell anticoagulant phenotype via nitric oxide expression.
• The PGS scaffold supported endothelial cell function and anticoagulant properties.

Conclusions:

• The endothelial cell-seeded PGS scaffold offers a promising platform for developing vascularized engineered tissues.
• This approach could facilitate subsequent co-culture studies for complex tissue construct development.
• The scaffold provides a basis for neovascularization in engineered cardiac tissues.