Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 28, 2025
11:12
Nondestructive Monitoring of Degradable Scaffold-Based Tissue-Engineered Blood Vessel Development Using Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: October 3, 2018
5.7K
Mitomycin-Treated Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells Suitable for Safe Tissue Engineering Approaches
Irina Zakharova1,2,3, Shoraan Saaya2, Alexander Shevchenko1,2,3
1The Federal Research Center Institute of Cytology and Genetics, The Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
|April 1, 2022
Summary
Discarded cardiac cells, when treated to stop division, can be safely used in vascular patches for tissue repair. This method prevents tumor formation while maintaining cell function for regenerative medicine.
Area of Science:
- Regenerative Medicine
- Vascular Surgery
- Tissue Engineering
Background:
- Discarded cardiac tissue is a source of functional vascular cells.
- Previous studies established the availability of endothelial and smooth muscle cells from cardiac explants.
- The potential tumorigenic effect of dividing cells necessitates safety measures for clinical application.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the benefits of vascular cells from cardiac explants for vascular patch seeding in vivo.
- To test an in vitro method of arresting mitotic division to enhance cell safety for regenerative medicine.
- To assess the tumorigenic potential and angiogenic capacity of mitotically inactivated vascular cells.
Main Methods:
- Tissue-engineered vascular patches seeded with cardiac-derived endothelial and smooth muscle cells were implanted into SCID mice aortas.
- Cells were treated with mitomycin C (10 μg/ml) for 2 hours to arrest mitotic division.
- In vitro and in vivo analyses assessed cell proliferation, viability, function, tumorigenicity, and angiogenic potential.
Main Results:
- Vascular patches successfully integrated into the aorta, forming vessel walls without compromising patency.
- Mitomycin C-treated cells showed no tumorigenic effect in SCID mice and maintained viability in vitro.
- Despite arrested proliferation, treated cells retained specific markers, produced extracellular matrix, and stimulated angiogenesis in vivo.
Conclusions:
- Mitotic inactivation of cardiac-derived vascular cells using mitomycin C is a safe approach for regenerative medicine.
- This method prevents the risk of malignancy associated with dividing cells in vascular surgery.
- Tissue-engineered constructs using mitotically inactivated cells from waste cardiac material offer a promising path toward safe cell-based therapies.
