Development of an endometrial inspired biomaterial
For regenerative medicine applications, a common limitation to biomaterial cultures and implants is nutrient transport. Unlike native tissue which contains a dense vascular network to provide nutrients and eliminate waste, biomaterials rely solely on diffusive transport which is often insufficient at maintaining cellular behavior of implants, diminishing their efficacy. Many strategies seek to prevascularize these de novo tissue constructs using traditional tissue engineering techniques such as including cocultures of pro-angiogenic cells or the delivery of angiogenic factors within the biomaterials to direct cellular behavior. These methods have not shown the capacity to recreate the complexity of neovascular processes. The work described in this thesis develops an angiogenic tissue model to improve general understanding of how native vascular processes translate to vascularization in an in vitro environment and to develop new techniques to efficiently pre-vascularize biomaterials. The intent of this model is to incorporate biological cues inspired by a physiological vascularization process that occurs within the endometrium, the lining of the uterus. Since endometrial vascularization is orchestrated by changes in sex hormones estradiol and progesterone in vivo, we chose to develop an endometrial inspired 3D vasculogenic culture in vitro. We culture endometrial epithelial and stromal cells with non-endometrial endothelial cells in both porous collagen scaffolds and gelatin hydrogel biomaterial environments in order to monitor pro-angiogenic processes. Additionally, we explore how traditional tissue engineering and nature-inspired methods can be combined to present not only traditional angiogenic driving cues (i.e. vascular endothelial growth factor) but additional pro-angiogenic cues such as estradiol within these biomaterial constructs to promote pro-angiogenic events.
scaffold, hydrogel, endometrium, vascularization, collagen, hormones
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign