Tissue-engineered vascular structures
First Claim
1. A tissue-engineered vascular construct comprising a scaffold configured to form said construct and seeded with endothelial progenitor cells and/or SMA+ spindle cells capable of forming vascular tissue, said scaffold comprising a biodegradable material.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to novel, less invasive and improved methods of tissue-engineering of constructs that require an endothelial surface such as blood vessels and heart valves. The constructs of the present invention possess long-term patency. The method of the present invention is particularly suited for making small diameter vessels to replace clogged or damaged coronary blood vessels, for making trileaflet heart valve conduits to replace damaged or malformed pulmonic and aortic valves, and for other vascular structures that require an endothelial surface.
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10 Claims
- 1. A tissue-engineered vascular construct comprising a scaffold configured to form said construct and seeded with endothelial progenitor cells and/or SMA+ spindle cells capable of forming vascular tissue, said scaffold comprising a biodegradable material.
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4. A method for making a tissue-engineered vascular construct comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a substrate shaped to form the vascular construct, said substrate comprising a biodegradable material;
(b) contacting said substrate with endothelial progenitor cells and/or SMA+ spindle cells capable of adhering thereto and forming vascular tissue, thereby forming a primary cell-seeded construct;
(c) maintaining said primary cell-seeded construct for a first growth period in a fluid media suitable for growth of said cells and imparting stresses in the construct during said first growth phase to stimulate the physiological conditions to be encountered by the construct once implanted to form the vascular construct. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification