Name: scaling of engineered vascular grafts using 3d printed guides and the ring stacking method
Uploaded: 2017-03-27T11:30:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Scaling of Engineered Vascular Grafts Using 3D Printed Guides and the Ring Stacking Method at JoVE.com

The authors would like to thank our fellow Lam lab colleagues Ammar Chishti and Bijal Patel for their kind assistance with some of the histology and cell culture. Funding was provided by the Wayne State University Nanomedicine Fellowship (CBP), Start-Up Funds and Cardiovascular Research Institute Seed Grant (MTL).

1. Cell Culture Preparation
<ol>
	<li>Utilize human aortic smooth muscle cells purchased commercially.</li>
	<li>Maintain cells in smooth muscle cell growth media composed of 88.6% 231 media, 0.1% each of recombinant human insulin (rH-insulin), recombinant human fibroblast growth factor (rH-FGF), recombinant human epidermal growth factor (rH-FGF), and ascorbic acid; and 5% each of fetal bovine serum (FBS) and L-glutamine; and 1% antibiotic/antimycotic. 
	NOTE: Each growth factor, FBS and L-glutamine are purchased ...

<ol>
	<li>Luciani, G. B., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Operative+risk+and+outcome+of+surgery+in+adults+with+congenital+valve+disease.">Operative risk and outcome of surgery in adults with congenital valve disease.</a> ASAIO J. 54 (5), 458-462 (2008).</li><li>Lawson, J. H., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Bioengineered+human+acellular+vessels+for+dialysis+access+in+patients+with+end-stage+renal+disease:+two+phase+2+single-arm+trials.">Bioengineered human acellular vessels for dialysis access in patients with end-stage renal disease: two phase 2 single-arm trials.</a> Lancet. 14 (387), 2026-2034 (2016).</li><li>McAllister, T. N., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Effectiveness+of+haemodialysis+access+with+an+autologous+tissue-engineered+vascular+graft:+a+multicentre+cohort+study.">Effectiveness of haemodialysis access with an autologous tissue-engineered vascular graft: a multicentre cohort study.</a> Lancet. 373 (9673), 1440-1446 (2009).</li><li>Wystrychowski, W., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=First+human+use+of+an+allogeneic+tissue-engineered+vascular+graft+for+hemodialysis+access.">First human use of an allogeneic tissue-engineered vascular graft for hemodialysis access.</a> J Vasc Surg. 60 (5), 1353-1357 (2014).</li><li>Konig, G., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Mechanical+properties+of+completely+autologous+human+tissue+engineered+blood+vessels+compared+to+human+saphenous+vein+and+mammary+artery.">Mechanical properties of completely autologous human tissue engineered blood vessels compared to human saphenous vein and mammary artery.</a> Biomaterials. 30 (8), 1542-1550 (2009).</li><li>Gui, L., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Construction+of+tissue-engineered+small-diameter+vascular+grafts+in+fibrin+scaffolds+in+30+days.">Construction of tissue-engineered small-diameter vascular grafts in fibrin scaffolds in 30 days.</a> Tissue Eng Part A. 20 (9-10), 1499-1507 (2014).</li><li>Sundaram, S., Echter, A., Sivarapatna, A., Qiu, C., Niklason, L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Small-diameter+vascular+graft+engineered+using+human+embryonic+stem+cell-derived+mesenchymal+cells.">Small-diameter vascular graft engineered using human embryonic stem cell-derived mesenchymal cells.</a> Tissue Eng Part A. 20 (3-4), 740-750 (2014).</li><li>Quint, C., Arief, M., Muto, A., Dardik, A., Niklason, L. E. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Allogeneic+human+tissue-engineered+blood+vessel.">Allogeneic human tissue-engineered blood vessel.</a> J Vasc Surg. 55 (3), 790-798 (2012).</li><li>Quint, C., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Decellularized+tissue-engineered+blood+vessel+as+an+arterial+conduit.">Decellularized tissue-engineered blood vessel as an arterial conduit.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 31 (108), 9214-9219 (2011).</li><li>Dahl, S. L., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Readily+available+tissue-engineered+vascular+grafts.">Readily available tissue-engineered vascular grafts.</a> Sci Transl Med. 2 (68), (2011).</li><li>Syedain, Z. H., Meier, L. A., Lahti, M. T., Johnson, S. L., Tranquillo, R. T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Implantation+of+completely+biological+engineered+grafts+following+decellularization+into+the+sheep+femoral+artery.">Implantation of completely biological engineered grafts following decellularization into the sheep femoral artery.</a> Tissue Eng Part A. 20 (11-12), 1726-1734 (2014).</li><li>Syedain, Z. H., Meier, L. A., Bjork, J. W., Lee, A., Tranquillo, R. T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Implantable+arterial+grafts+from+human+fibroblasts+and+fibrin+using+a+multi-graft+pulsed+flow-stretch+bioreactor+with+noninvasive+strength+monitoring.">Implantable arterial grafts from human fibroblasts and fibrin using a multi-graft pulsed flow-stretch bioreactor with noninvasive strength monitoring.</a> Biomaterials. 32 (3), 714-722 (2011).</li><li>Meier, L. A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Blood+outgrowth+endothelial+cells+alter+remodeling+of+completely+biological+engineered+grafts+implanted+into+the+sheep+femoral+artery.">Blood outgrowth endothelial cells alter remodeling of completely biological engineered grafts implanted into the sheep femoral artery.</a> J Cardiovasc Transl Res. 7 (2), 242-249 (2014).</li><li>Pinnock, C. B., Meier, E. M., Joshi, N. N., Wu, B., Lam, M. T. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Customizable+engineered+blood+vessels+using+3D+printed+inserts.">Customizable engineered blood vessels using 3D printed inserts.</a> Methods. S1046-2023 (15), 30184-30185 (2015).</li><li>Blakely, A. M., Manning, K. L., Tripathi, A., Morgan, J. R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Bio-Pick,+Place,and+Perfuse:+A+New+Instrument+for+Three-Dimensional+Tissue+Engineering.">Bio-Pick, Place,and Perfuse: A New Instrument for Three-Dimensional Tissue Engineering.</a> Tissue Eng Part C Methods. 21 (7), 737-746 (2015).</li><li>Gwyther, T. A., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Engineered+vascular+tissue+fabricated+from+aggregated+smooth+muscle+cells.">Engineered vascular tissue fabricated from aggregated smooth muscle cells.</a> Cells Tissues Organs. 194 (1), 13-24 (2011).</li><li>Fearon, W. F., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Changes+in+coronary+arterial+dimensions+early+after+cardiac+transplantation.">Changes in coronary arterial dimensions early after cardiac transplantation.</a> Transplantation. 27 (6), 700-705 (2007).</li><li>Erbel, R., Eggebrecht, H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Aortic+dimensions+and+the+risk+of+dissection.">Aortic dimensions and the risk of dissection.</a> Heart. 92 (1), 137-142 (2006).</li><li>Ha, D. M., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Transforming+growth+factor-beta+1+produced+by+vascular+smooth+muscle+cells+predicts+fibrosis+in+the+gastrocnemius+of+patients+with+peripheral+artery+disease.">Transforming growth factor-beta 1 produced by vascular smooth muscle cells predicts fibrosis in the gastrocnemius of patients with peripheral artery disease.</a> J Transl Med. 14, 39 (2016).</li><li>Skalli, O., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Alpha-smooth+muscle+actin,+a+differentiation+marker+of+smooth+muscle+cells,+is+present+in+microfilamentous+bundles+of+pericytes.">Alpha-smooth muscle actin, a differentiation marker of smooth muscle cells, is present in microfilamentous bundles of pericytes.</a> J Histochem Cytochem. 37 (3), 315-321 (1989).</li><li>von der Ecken, J., et al. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Structure+of+the+F-actin-tropomyosin+complex.">Structure of the F-actin-tropomyosin complex.</a> Nature. 519 (7541), 114-117 (2015).</li></ol>

The Ring Stacking Method presents multiple advantages over current vascular tissue engineered construct techniques. The RSM can be adapted to create human vessels of any size by simply customizing the post and outer shell dimensions. Our method allows for development of polymer-free engineered vessels composed solely of human cells and rapidly degrading support material found in the body&#39;s natural wound healing process. Polymer grafts are known to cause restenosis in the clinic and could become problematic if contain...

In treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD), a patient&#39;s own blood vessels are harvested as graft material for bypass surgery. However, oftentimes, ill patients do not have viable vessels to donate to themselves, and in cases where they do, the donor site causes considerable additional harm and has a serious risk for infection.1 Engineered vascular grafts could fill this need. Scalability is of utmost importance for engineering vessels in order to meet the wide range of patient vessel size requirements. However, present methods for engineering vessels are not easily scalable, and typically require remanufacture of complex molds or polymer scaffolds. Most engineered grafts either utilize a polymer tubular scaffold that is seeded with vascular fibroblasts, smooth muscle, or endothelial cells; or rolling a cell sheet around a mandrel to create a tissue tube. Two engineered vascular grafts in clinical trials are based on a decellularized polymer-ECM platform.2,3,4 Polymer grafts available for use in vascular repair are already known to have issues with patency, which could arise as a major issue with long-term application of a graft with a sustained polymer presence. Tubular molds have been used to fabricate completely cellular vessels,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 which procedures would require additional design and tool manufacturing for custom molds in order to produce vessels in a variety of sizes.
The method described herein encompasses a novel technique for creating easily scalable engineered vascular grafts using customizable 3D printed inserts and traditional culture plates.14 Cells are seeded into plates with inserts of a central post and outer shell. The post controls lumen diameter and allows the cell monolayer to self-assemble into a ring of tissue. The outer shell controls thickness of the ring, and thus wall thickness of the final vessel. Completed tissue rings are then stacked to form a tubular, vascular graft. The advantage to this method, termed the &#34;Ring Stacking Method,&#34; is that any adherent cell type can be seeded into the plate setup and tissue rings or tubes of any size needed for the desired application can be generated by simply modifying guide inserts. Comparative techniques in tissue engineering creating rings of tissue remain difficult to scale,15,16 requiring remanufacture of molds for each desired size. Additionally, vascular grafts made using this method can be produced in 2-3 weeks, several weeks faster compared to other engineered vessels.6 For the clinic, this time discrepancy can make a significant difference in the treatment of a deteriorating patient.

<table border="1" fo:keep-together.within-page="1" fo:keep-with-next.within-page="always">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Human Aortic Smooth Muscle Cells&#160;</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>PCS-100-012</td>
			<td>vascular smooth muscle cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Medium 231</td>
			<td>Gibco (Life Technologies&#160;</td>
			<td>M-231-500</td>
			<td>media specific to vascular smooth muscle cells</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Human Aortic Smooth Muscle Cell Growth Kit&#160;</td>
			<td>ATCC</td>
			<td>PSC-100-042</td>
			<td>growth factors for maintaining vascular smooth muscle cell viability</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Replicator Mini 3D printer&#160;</td>
			<td>MakerBot&#160;</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>3D printer</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Poly(lactic acid) 3D ink (PLA)</td>
			<td>MakerBot&#160;</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>3D printer filament</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Poly(dimethlysiloxane) (PDMS)</td>
			<td>Ellworth Adhesives&#160;</td>
			<td>3097358-1004</td>
			<td>polymer for gluing plate parts</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Fibrinogen</td>
			<td>Hyclone Labratories, Inc.</td>
			<td>SH30256.01</td>
			<td>fibrin gel component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Thrombin&#160;</td>
			<td>Sigma Life Sciences</td>
			<td>F3879-5G</td>
			<td>fibrin gel component</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tranforming Growth Factor-Beta 1&#160;</td>
			<td>PeproTech</td>
			<td>100-21</td>
			<td>growth factor for stimulating collagen production</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Hemocytometer&#160;</td>
			<td>Hausser Scientific Co.</td>
			<td>3200</td>
			<td>for cell counting</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polycarbonate tubing&#160;</td>
			<td>US Plastics&#160;</td>
			<td>PCTUB1.750X1.625</td>
			<td>material for making tall, ring stacking plates</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Polycarbonate sheet&#160;</td>
			<td>Home Depot</td>
			<td>409497</td>
			<td>material for making tall, ring stacking plates</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Adhesive polymer solvent&#160;</td>
			<td>SCIGRIP</td>
			<td>10799</td>
			<td>material for making tall, ring stacking plates</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Instron&#160; 5940</td>
			<td>Instron</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>tensile testing machine</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>U-Stretch</td>
			<td>Cell Scale</td>
			<td>N/A</td>
			<td>tensile testing machine</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Smooth Muscle Actin&#160;</td>
			<td>MA5-11547</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>antibody</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Tropomyosin</td>
			<td>MA5-11783</td>
			<td>Thermo Fisher</td>
			<td>antibody</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

scaling of engineered vascular grafts using 3d printed guides and the ring stacking method

Coronary artery disease remains a leading cause of death, affecting millions of Americans. With the lack of autologous vascular grafts available, engineered grafts offer great potential for patient treatment. However, engineered vascular grafts are generally not easily scalable, requiring manufacture of custom molds or polymer tubes in order to customize to different sizes, constituting a time-consuming and costly practice. Human arteries range in lumen diameter from about 2.0-38 mm and in wall thickness from about 0.5-2.5 mm. We have created a method, termed the "Ring Stacking Method," in which variable size rings of tissue of the desired cell type, demonstrated here with vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs), can be created using guides of center posts to control lumen diameter and outer shells to dictate vessel wall thickness. These tissue rings are then stacked to create a tubular construct, mimicking the natural form of a blood vessel. The vessel length can be tailored by simply stacking the number of rings required to constitute the length needed. With our technique, tissues of tubular forms, similar to a blood vessel, can be readily manufactured in a variety of dimensions and lengths to meet the needs of the clinic and patient.

Demonstrated here is fabrication of 3 different engineered vascular graft sizes (Figure 1), showing that the Ring Stacking Method (RSM) is scalable. To prove applicability, the 3 different vessel sizes chosen correlate to actual human vessel size for the left anterior descending artery (small; lumen diameter = 4 mm)17, descending aorta (intermediate; lumen diameter = 10 mm) and ascending aorta (large; lumen diameter = 20 mm)18</su...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Scaling of Engineered Vascular Grafts Using 3D Printed Guides and the Ring Stacking Method at JoVE.com

Scaling of Engineered Vascular Grafts Using 3D Printed Guides and the Ring Stacking Method

Scalable engineered blood vessels would improve clinical applicability. Using easily sizable 3D-printed guides, rings of vascular smooth muscle were created and stacked into a tubular form, forming a vascular graft. Grafts can be sized to meet the range of human coronary artery dimensions by simply changing the 3D-printed guide size.

Coronary artery disease remains a leading cause of death, affecting millions of Americans. With the lack of autologous vascular grafts available, ...

The overall goal of this method is to robustly and consistently generate engineered blood vessels of any size. This technique allows the reliable and effective engineering of blood vessels. The main advantage of this technique is that vessels of any size can be easily and reliably fabricated.We first had the idea for this method when we were discussing how to engineer a tube of tissue and likened our method to constructing roadway tunnels, one segment at a time. To prepare the 3D printed inserts first add a thin layer of two, four, or six mL of uncured silicone to the bottoms of a 35, 60, or 100 millimeter Petri dish, respectively. To create posts for the 35 mm plates, pour PDMS into a different 100 mm plate to a seven mm height, and heat the PDMS on a hotplate at 60 degrees Celsius for two to three hours.When the PDMS is cured, use a five mm biopsy punch to create cylindrical posts. Using a small amount of uncured PDMS to secure the cylinders to the center of each 35 mm plate. Place a 3D printed outer shell about 66.7 mm in diameter equidistant from the post in the 100 mm plates.Before the PDMS at the bottom of the 60 and 100 mm plates is cured, place 10 and 20 mm diameter 3D printed posts centrally into each 60 and 100 mm plates respectively. Allow the dishes to cure in the open air on the 60 degree Celsius hotplate for two to three hours, followed by eighteen hours of polymer degassing. At the end of the degassing, sterilize the insides of all of the plates with 70%ethanol and cover each plate for 30 minutes.Then carefully aspirate the ethanol from each plate to allow air drying. When the plates are dry transfer them to a biological safety cabinet next to their corresponding face up lids. and expose the materials to UV light for 30 minutes to complete the sterilization.To prepare the Fibrin Hydrogel first add 0.5, 1.1 and 1.81 mL of growth medium supplemented with Fibrin gel and TGF Beta 1 to 35, 60 and 100 mm culture dishes respectively. Next, add 40 88.4, and 145 microliters of Thrombin to the 35, 60, and 100 mm plates respectively, and gently swirl each plate by hand. When the Thrombin is evenly distributed add 160, 354, and 580 microliters of Fibrinogen with a drop-wise circular motion to the Thrombin medium mixture in the 35, 60, and 100 mm plates, respectively, and gently swirl the plates to evenly distribute the Hydrogel.Allow the Hydrogel to cure for 10 to 15 minutes at room temperature. Then trypsinize the smooth muscles cells of interest, expanded in 150 mm cell culture plates, and collect the detached cells by centrifugalization. Re-suspend the pellets in three ml of differentiation medium and use a two mL pipette to vigorously triturate the cells to break up any cell clumps.After counting, split the cells into 2/10 10 to the 6th, 1/10 10 to the 7th, and 1.4 x 10 to the 7th cells per mL aliquots in 50 ml conical tubes, labeled according to their corresponding culture plates. Add differentiation medium to each tube to obtain final seeding volumes of two, four, and five mL for each 35, 60 and 100 mm plate respectively Then, carefully add the cell solutions drop-wise onto the prepared Hydrogel in each corresponding plate for expansion in the cell culture incubator. After two to four days the rings will have completely contracted in towards their posts.So add 10, 20, or 35 mL of TGF Beta 1 to each 35, 60 and 100 mm ring, respectively. To assemble the vascular construct for the 35 mm vessel cut a two inch section from the top of a 50 mL of a polycarbonate conical tube And PDMS glue the top edge into a 35 mm plate to create a tall plate for ring stacking. For the 60 and 100 mm vessel tall ring stacking plates cut a 1.75 inch diameter polycarbonate tube into 2.5 inch sections length-wise to serve as the tall plate walls.For the tall plate bottoms, cut a 0.125 inch thick polycarbonate sheet into two inch diameter circle pieces. Using acrylic solvent cement bind the polycarbonate tube sections to the circular cut pieces. 3D print five, ten, and 20 mm diameter posts with a 50 mm length.Then add 10 mL of uncured silicone to each container, centrally placing each 3D printed post into each 35, 60 and 100 mm container before the PDMS is completely cured. And place the dishes on a 60 degree Celsius hotplate for two to three hours. When the PDMS is cured, sterilize the plates with 70%ethanol as just demonstrated, followed by exposure of the dried ethanol sterilized containers to UV light for 30 minutes.Now, use two pairs of very fine forceps to carefully lift first one side, and then the other, of a tightly rolled smooth muscle Hydrogel ring from its post. Then carefully slide one side of the ring and then the other onto the tall post of the corresponding next sized larger container. Working circumferentially, with gentle gradual movements, slowly push the ring down the post, subsequently stacking additional tissue rings until the desired vessel length has been obtained.When all of the rings have been stacked turn the plates so that the posts are parallel with the working surface, and gently add 40, 80, and 160 microliters of Thrombin to the outer surface of each 35, 60, and 100 mm vessel respectively while slowly rotating the plates. Next, add 40, 80, and 160 microliters of Fibrinogen to each 35, 60, and 100 mm construct respectively, as quickly and evenly as possible while briskly rotating the construct. The Thrombin and Fibrinogen will quickly set into a firm gel upon mixing.Then add 20 mL of differentiation medium to each construct container and place the vessels into a 37 degree Celsius incubator until needed. Histological analysis reveals a high cellularity in all ringed sizes, with a small amount of residual Fibrin gel observed on the outer edges of the small rings. In the larger rings some Fibrin gel is interspersed with the cellular content, with indications of collagen production apparent in both the intermediate and large rings.Tissue ring analysis for Alpha smooth muscle Actin and Tropomyosin expression reveals that all of the ring sizes are positive for both antibodies verifying that the smooth muscle phenotype was maintained. Tensile testing indicates a consistent trend of increasing strength correlating with an increasing ring and vessel size in all three sizes of rings. Cell seeding numbers for creating the various ring sizes also correlates with the seeding surface area.These vessel constructs are also able to withstand flow for up to five minutes at flow rates from 100 to 417 ml per minute with only minor leaking observed where the vessels connect to the profusion system. Once mastered, the rings can be engineered in one hour if the technique is properly performed. While attempting this procedure it's important to remember to mix the Hydrogel components thoroughly to ensure setting of the gel and proper ring formation.Following this procedure, other methods, like creating rings of other cell types, can be performed for engineering other types of tissues. After watching this video you should have a good understanding of how to use the ring stacking method to engineer vascular tissues of various sizes.

Research

JoVE Journal

Bioengineering

Engineering Biological-Based Vascular Grafts Using a Pulsatile Bioreactor

Much effort has been devoted to develop and advance the methodology to regenerate functional small-diameter arterial bypasses. In the physiological ...

Rapid and Low-cost Prototyping of Medical Devices Using 3D Printed Molds for Liquid Injection Molding

Biologically inert elastomers such as silicone are favorable materials for medical device fabrication, but forming and curing these elastomers using ...

Surgical Technique for the Implantation of Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts and Subsequent In Vivo Monitoring

Surgical Technique for the Implantation of Tissue Engineered Vascular Grafts and Subsequent In Vivo Monitoring

The development of Tissue Engineered Vessels (TEVs) is advanced by the ability to routinely and effectively implant TEVs (4-5 mm in diameter) into a large ...

Athymic Rat Model for Evaluation of Engineered Anterior Cruciate Ligament Grafts

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture is a common ligamentous injury that often requires surgery because the ACL does not heal well without ...

Engineering 3D Cellularized Collagen Gels for Vascular Tissue Regeneration

Synthetic materials are known to initiate clinical complications such as inflammation, stenosis, and infections when implanted as vascular substitutes. ...

Fabrication of Custom Agarose Wells for Cell Seeding and Tissue Ring Self-assembly Using 3D-Printed Molds

Engineered tissues are being used clinically for tissue repair and replacement, and are being developed as tools for drug screening and human disease ...

3D Printed Porous Cellulose Nanocomposite Hydrogel Scaffolds

This work demonstrates the use of three-dimensional (3D) printing to produce porous cubic scaffolds using cellulose nanocomposite hydrogel ink, with ...

Simultaneous Quantification of Selected Kynurenines Analyzed by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry in Medium Collected from Cancer Cell Cultures

The kynurenine pathway and the tryptophan catabolites called kynurenines have received increased attention for their involvement in immune regulation and ...