Pulmonary tissue engineering using dual-compartment polymer scaffolds with integrated vascular tree

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Regenerative Medicine
• Tissue Engineering

Background:

• The critical shortage of donor organs for lung transplantation necessitates innovative organ replacement therapies.
• Pulmonary tissue engineering seeks to develop functional hybrid lung tissue for patients suffering from chronic respiratory failure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To engineer functional hybrid microsystems that mimic the alveolar tissue's basic structure and function.
• To address the organ shortage for lung transplantation through advanced tissue engineering.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of dual-chamber polymer constructs using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) via microfabrication.
• Culture of immortalized mouse lung epithelium cells (MLE-12) on microcarrier beads and their introduction into the parenchymal chamber.
• Perfusion of the vascular chamber in a bioreactor and maintenance of the construct for one week.

Main Results:

• Successful even distribution and confluent layer formation of MLE-12 cells within the parenchymal chamber.
• Demonstrated adequate cell proliferation and maintained cell viability over the one-week culture period.
• Confirmed cellular specificity and functional capacity through immunostaining for alveolar epithelium markers (proSP-B, proSP-C) and use of GFP-transfected cells.

Conclusions:

• Functional hybrid microsystems mimicking the alveolar tissue's fundamental architecture were successfully engineered in vitro.
• This study presents a promising step towards developing engineered lung tissue for therapeutic applications.