Degradable scaffold-mediated synergistic matrix formation by endogenous cells: an in vivo manufacturing strategy for off-the-shelf vascular grafts to address clinical shortages.

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

Abstract Cardiovascular bypass surgery is an important treatment for severe atherosclerosis, but the scarcity of autologous blood vessels restricts its clinical application. Although tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) have potential, the long cycle of traditional in vitro culture makes it difficult to achieve "off-the-shelf" supply. This study innovatively proposes a strategy of guiding the in vivo self-assembly of endogenous cells via degradable scaffolds to rapidly construct cardiovascular bypass grafts. After implanting electrospun PLCL nanofibrous elastomer scaffolds subcutaneously in SD rats, host fibroblasts, and abdominal adipose-derived stem cells were recruited in only two weeks. These cells synergistically secreted extracellular matrix, forming an endogenous cell-empowered tissue-engineered PLCL (TE-P) vascular graft. The graft has appropriate stress relaxation and creep properties, and can support the adhesion and migration of arterial endothelial cells. In the abdominal aorta replacement model, TE-P remained patent 90 days after transplantation, with the vessel wall having synchronous contraction function and elasticity, and the effect of tissue structure reconstruction was close to that of the "gold standard" autologous blood vessels. Transcriptome analysis showed that TE-P promotes vascular regeneration through the synergistic mechanisms of energy metabolis

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

Browse all related research

Filter the research library by this study's title keywords, author, or publication year.