Rapid Vascularization of Engineered Tissues

The translation of tissue engineering strategies from bench-side to clinical therapeutics is significantly hampered by the inability to provide adequate oxygen to support the post-transplantation metabolic needs of the tissue. To overcome this limitation, our lab is developing approaches to enable rapid vascularization of the engineered orthopaedic and cardiovascular tissues. We incorporate heterogenous populations of human adipose-derived stem/stromal cells (hASCs), which have demonstrated potential to spontaneously self-assemble into robust, interconnected vascular networks and/or stabilize neo-vessels formed by endothelial cells. Used in combination with differentiated cell phenotypes and advanced functionalized biomaterials, we will demonstrate various roles hASCs may adopt to facilitate the growth of complex vascularized tissues - including bone, skeletal muscle, and myocardium - without inhibiting cell and tissue function.