Engineering functional microvessels in synthetic polyurethane random-pore scaffolds by harnessing perfusion flow

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Current biomaterial scaffolds for tissue prevascularization are complex, hindering clinical application.
• Developing simpler, customizable scaffolds is crucial for advancing soft tissue engineering.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a novel prevascularization strategy for soft tissue engineering using a non-patterned, non-biological scaffold.
• To evaluate the efficacy of engineered microvessels in a subcutaneous implantation model.

Main Methods:

• Seeding human fibroblasts and HUVECs on a polyurethane hydrogel scaffold.
• Culturing constructs under medium perfusion at varying flow rates (0.005, 0.05, 0.5 mL/min).
• Implanting optimized constructs in mice and assessing host blood perfusion via intravital imaging.

Main Results:

• A perfusion flow rate of 0.05 mL/min significantly enhanced lumen density in engineered microvessels.
• Implanted constructs exhibited functional, non-leaky microvessels perfused by host blood.
• Enhanced neovascularization by host vessels was observed in prevascularized constructs compared to controls.

Conclusions:

• This work presents the first strategy for engineering functional microvessels using non-bioactive, non-patterned synthetic polyurethane.
• The proposed method offers a simplified and potentially customizable approach to prevascularization in tissue engineering.