Login to Access Video or Poster Abstract: MP74-06
Sources of Funding: Grant from the State of North Carolina

Introduction

Vascularization is among the most pressing technical challenges facing tissue engineering of 3D organs. While small engineered tissue constructs can rely solely on vascular infiltration and diffusion from host tissues following implantation, larger avascular constructs do not survive long enough for vessel ingrowth to occur. To address this challenge, strategies for pre-vascularization of engineered constructs have been developed. To this end, we developed a simple and novel fabrication method to create biomimetic microvascular scaffolds using vascular corrosion casting as a template for pre-vascularization of engineered kidney tissue constructs.

Methods

Vascular corrosion casts were made of the left kidney of adult rats. To create polycaprolactone (PCL) casts, the kidney was perfused with with 10% w/v PCL dissolved in acetone. To fabricate collagen-based vascular scaffolds from the PCL cast, the cast were dip-coated with Type 1 rat tail collagen and cross-linked. Warm acetone was used to remove the PCL casts from inside the collagen, leaving a hollow collagen vascular scaffold. To test endothelialization of the vascular scaffolds, endothelial cells labeled with green fluorescent protein (GFP) were seeded. Morphological and structural analyses were performed.

Results

Gross and electron microscopic analysis demonstrated that polycaprolactone (PCL)-derived kidney vascular corrosion casts are able to capture the architecture of normal renal tissue and can serve as a sacrificial template for the creation of a collagen-based vascular scaffold. Histological analysis demonstrates that the collagen vascular scaffolds are biomimetic in structure and can be perfused, endothelialized, and embedded in hydrogel tissue constructs.

Conclusions

Our scaffold creation method is simple, cost effective, and provides a biomimetic, tissue-specific option for pre- vascularization that may be used for reconstruction of kidney tissues.

Funding

Grant from the State of North Carolina