Abstract

Controlling Vascular Organization in Engineered Tissues Using Patterns of Growth Factors

Jeroen Rouwkema, Associate Professor, University of Twente

Engineered tissues offer a great promise as an alternative for donor tissues, for which the supply is not meeting the demands. However, currently the clinical application of engineered tissues is hampered. The integration of engineered tissues after implantation is limited due to the lack of a vascular network. In order to achieve multiscale organized vascular networks within engineered tissues, we are developing methodologies to spatially control the organization of vascular cells within tissue analogues. A potent approach in this is to spatially control the availability of angiogenic growth factors. By combining an aptamer based growth factor scavenging approach with 3D printing technology to pattern the presence of the aptamers, the availability of the growth factor can be regulated both in space and time. With this approach, our aim is to locally control tissue remodeling and maturation, resulting in a vascular network that resembles a vascular tree.