Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Endothelial
Prevascular structure
Figure 6c.3
Endothelial cell coculture.
Chamber
Microchannels
AV loop
Figure 6c.4
In vitro vascular structure fabrication, and cultivation using an
in vivo chamber.
Cell sheet
Polysurgery
Figure 6c.5
Multistep transplantation of layered cell sheets.
6c.4
Growth Factor Delivery
Growth factors, such as VEGF, bFGF, and platelet-derived growth
factor (PDGF), are known to promote neovascularization, including
vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. VEGF and bFGF affect migration,
proliferation, and the tube formation of endothelial cells. On the
other hand, the behavior of pericytes and smooth muscle cells is
controlled by PDGF. Although it is believed that administration of
these growth factors accelerates blood vessel formation, they also
degrade easily and the effective duration is very short. Therefore, the
controlled release of growth factors is important for sustained blood
vessel formation [10-13]. As described in the previous chapter, the
scaffold-based technique has become the mainstream method for
