IRREVERSIBLE ELECTROPORATION TO CREATE TISSUE SCAFFOLDS
First Claim
1. An in vitro method of making an engineered tissue scaffold, said method comprising:
- treating, in vitro, a tissue comprising cells and an extracellular matrix scaffold with an electrical field for a sufficient time at a sufficient power to cause irreversible electroporation of the cells but not to cause irreversible damage to vascular structures present in the tissue.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention provides engineered tissue scaffolds, engineered tissues, and methods of using them. The scaffolds and tissues are derived from natural tissues and are created using non-thermal irreversible electroporation (IRE). Use of IRE allows for ablation of cells of the tissue to be treated, but allows vascular and neural structures to remain essentially unharmed. Use of IRE thus permits preparation of thick tissue scaffolds and tissues due to the presence of vasculature within the scaffolds. The engineered tissues can be used in methods of treating subjects, such as those in need of tissue replacement or augmentation.
197 Citations
26 Claims
-
1. An in vitro method of making an engineered tissue scaffold, said method comprising:
treating, in vitro, a tissue comprising cells and an extracellular matrix scaffold with an electrical field for a sufficient time at a sufficient power to cause irreversible electroporation of the cells but not to cause irreversible damage to vascular structures present in the tissue. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
- 8. An engineered tissue scaffold created from a natural tissue source, said tissue scaffold comprising the extracellular matrix and vascular structures of the natural tissue source.
-
11. An in vitro method of making an engineered tissue from a natural source, said method comprising:
-
seeding an engineered tissue scaffold with cells in vitro; and exposing the seeded scaffold to conditions that permit growth of the cells on and in the tissue scaffold. - View Dependent Claims (12)
-
-
13. An in vivo method of making an engineered tissue from a natural source, said method comprising:
-
treating a tissue of an animal or human in vivo with non-thermal irreversible electroporation (IRE) to kill cells of the tissue; allowing the animal'"'"'s or human'"'"'s body to remove cell debris from the treated tissue; and reseeding the treated tissue with cells from outside the animal or human. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15)
-
-
16. An engineered tissue created from a natural source, said tissue comprising:
-
an engineered tissue scaffold comprising vascular structures naturally present in the tissue from which the tissue scaffold is derived; and living cells on and/or within the engineered tissue scaffold. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
-
-
19. A method of treating a subject in need of tissue replacement, said method comprising:
-
implanting an engineered tissue into the subject; wherein implanting results in at least one detectable change in the subject, and wherein the engineered tissue comprises; an engineered tissue scaffold from a natural source comprising the extracellular matrix and vascular structures of the natural tissue source, and living cells of the same species as the subject on and/or within the matrix of the tissue scaffold. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
-
-
23. A method of treating a subject in need of tissue replacement, said method comprising:
-
treating the tissue in need of replacement with IRE to kill cells of the tissue and produce an engineered tissue scaffold; seeding the tissue scaffold with cells from outside the subject'"'"'s body; and allowing the cells to grow on and in the tissue scaffold, wherein cell growth produces functional tissue that is a replacement for the original tissue. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26)
-
Specification