This technology is an engineered, injectable microtissue system consisting of endothelial cells that are able to self-organize into blood-vessel units for potential treatment of vascular injury.
Vascularization and injectability are critical challenges in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine and most current methods lack scalability and impede cell viability. To engineer anatomically-sized tissues, a functional vascular network needs to overcome the limitations of diffusion-based nutrient transport. However, existing methods for vascular regeneration, which include culturing layered cell sheets or relying on in vivo blood vessel invasion into an implant, are complex and time intensive.
This technology describes a high-throughput method to generate self-organizing microtissues that serve as blood vessel building blocks and can be implanted by injection. Self-organization of cells in spheroid culture is directed by timed exposure to specific growth factors. Through the release of dissolvable microwell templates, these injectable microtissues provide a native-like microenvironment for cells to be delivered. The strategy, which enables harvesting of microtissues with control over size and composition, can connect with existing vasculature after implantation to quickly form a functional vascular network. This technology holds great promise for tissue engineering applications and may also potentially be used to treat peripheral arterial diseases such as critical limb ischemia.
This technology has been validated in an in vivo mouse model of peripheral artery disease.
IR CU15128
Licensing Contact: Beth Kauderer