Svenja Wein (Aachen, DE), Carina Schemmer (Aachen, DE), Miriam Al Enezy-Ulbrich (Aachen, DE), Shannon Jung (Aachen, DE), Vytautas Kučikas (Aachen, DE), Norina Labude-Weber (Aachen, DE), Stephan Rütten (Aachen, DE), Prof. Dr. Andrij Pich (Aachen, DE), Prof. Dr. Sabine Neuß-Stein (Aachen, DE)
Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)
Question
Tissue engineering aims to functionally replace damaged tissues upon implantation by biohybrid structures using a combination of a biocompatible scaffold and cells of a suitable niche. Far-reaching progress has been made in this area, but clinical applications of artificial tissues are currently limited to thin or avascular tissues, as oxygen and nutrient supply is a limiting factor. In our research project, we are investigating the extent to which in vitro vascularisation by endothelial cells can advance the supply of oxygen and nutrients to tissue engineering products. The combination with a suitable scaffold material during the maturation phase offers great potential to achieve in vitro pre-vascularization.
Methods
To achieve this, fibrin-based hydrogels were prepared with and without the N-vinylpyrrolidone-based copolymer PVP12400-co-GMA10mol%. This copolymer offers the possibility to specifically adjust the strength of the fibrin hydrogels and to optimally adapt them to the requirements of the tissue engineering construct with regard to cell growth and nutrient supply. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) combined with mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) in a co-culture system are used to analyze the in vitro angiogenesis behavior on and in the controllable fibrin hydrogels.
Results
The reproducible formation of capillary-like structures was observed on TCPS as well as on gels with and without copolymer. Particularly noteworthy here is a reproducible parallel alignment of the capillaries on the fibrin hydrogels. Furthermore, the general feasibility of forming three-dimensional endothelial cell networks in fibrin-based hydrogels was demonstrated.
Conclusion
The experiments conducted in this project show that the fibrin hydrogels used particularly support and trigger capillary formation, even with the use of angiogenesis inhibitors. Consequently, they are highly suitable as a future scaffold material in the tissue engineering field.