In a groundbreaking new study led by University of Minnesota biomedical engineers, artificial blood vessels bioengineered in the lab and implanted in young lambs are capable of growth within the recipient. If confirmed in humans, these new vessel grafts would prevent the need for repeated surgeries in some children with congenital heart defects.
In this study, University of Minnesota Department of Biomedical Engineering Professor Robert Tranquillo and his colleagues generated vessel-like tubes in the lab from a post-natal donor’s skin cells and then removed the cells to minimize the chance of rejection. This also means the vessels can be stored and implanted when they are needed, without the need for customized cell growth of the recipient. When implanted in a lamb, the tube was then repopulated by the recipient’s own cells allowing it to grow.
Source & further reading:https://cse.umn.edu/news-release/artificial-blood-vessels-developed-lab-can-grow-recipient/
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Immunostaining for cell markers in the bioengineered graft showed recellularization across the entire thickness and length of the grafts.
Corina Marinescu
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