In Vivo Evaluation Of The Angiogenic Potential Of A Butyl Methacrylate-co-Methacrylic Acid Tissue Engineering Scaffold

摘要

Tissue Engineering involves the development of a new generation of materials capable of specific interactions with biological tissues. Often a scaffold with cells seeded in vitro is used to create the new tissue. With subsequent implantation in vivo the cells continue to grow and integrate with the surrounding tissue while the scaffold degrades. One of the limitations in this approach is that cells cannot survive more than about 200 μm from an oxygen source. To prepare relatively large tissue it is necessary to promote angiogenesis into the scaffold to allow the transport of oxygen and nutrients to the cells buried within the tissue. One approach to overcome this limitation is to incorporate anigogenic growth factors into the scaffolds. An alternative approach is based on the adaptation of an angiogenic material used for enhanced wound healing. It is believed that the negatively-charged methacrylic acid component of the biomaterial is responsible for the pro-angiogenic response in the absence of exogenous growth factors. Here we report on the subcutaneous implantation of a (nondegradable) porous scaffold prepared from a similar methacrylic acid copolymer with a view to generating a blood vessel rich tissue invasion.