Is tissue augmentation a reality in biosurgery? An experimental study of endothelial cell invasion into tissue filler

New therapeutic approaches for wound treatment are evolving. Non healing wounds in oncology and after trauma may be cured by a novel technique of tissue augmentation with soft tissue fillers. The principle resides in filling the wound with collagen filler in order to seal the defect and promote healing. Successful angiogenesis forms the basis of tissue filler survival and determines the outcome of the healing process. During this study, basic data about endothelial cell invasion into collagen-made substratum was collected that could be used for neoangiogenesis studies in tissue augmentation techniques for large wound defect treatment. In the in vitro assay, the human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) grow into a three-dimensional framework of collagenous tissue fillers, forming the basic step for angiogenesis. After heparins were used as chemotactic agents, a typical bell-shaped relationship between chemotaxis and agent concentrations was found. Significant cell infiltration was present in the assays with chemotactic agents. These observations support the potential for tissue augmentation with soft tissue fillers that could be used in acute and chronic non healing traumatic and oncology wounds after extensive surgical resections and radiotherapy.