Tissue-engineered microvessels on three-dimensional biodegradable scaffolds using human endothelial progenitor cells

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Abstract
Tissue engineering may offer patients new options when replacement or repair of an organ is needed. However, most tissues will require a microvascular network to supply oxygen and nutrients. One strategy for creating a microvascular network would be promotion of vasculogenesis in situ by seeding vascular progenitor cells within the biopolymeric construct. To pursue this strategy, we isolated CD34+/CD133+ endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) from human umbilical cord blood and expanded the cells ex vivo as EPC-derived endothelial cells (EC). The EPC lost expression of the stem cell marker CD133 but continued to express the endothelial markers KDR/VEGF-R2, VE-cadherin, CD31, von Willebrand factor, and E-selectin. The cells were also shown to mediate calcium-dependent adhesion of HL-60 cells, a human promyelocytic leukemia cell line, providing evidence for a proinflammatory endothelial phenotype. The EPC-derived EC maintained this endothelial phenotype when expanded in roller bottles and subsequently seeded on polyglycolic acid-poly-l-lactic acid (PGA-PLLA) scaffolds, but microvessel formation was not observed. In contrast, EPC-derived EC seeded with human smooth muscle cells formed capillary-like structures throughout the scaffold (76.5 ± 35 microvessels/mm2). These results indicate that 1) EPC-derived EC can be expanded in vitro and seeded on biodegradable scaffolds with preservation of endothelial phenotype and 2) EPC-derived EC seeded with human smooth muscle cells form microvessels on porous PGA-PLLA scaffolds. These properties indicate that EPC may be well suited for creating microvascular networks within tissue-engineered constructs.