Therapeutic model of vascular regenerationdevelopment of a novel bioreactor for recellularization of human arteries

Abstract

We present a study whose main objective is the creation of a therapeutic model of vascular regeneration using decellularized human arteries. First, the isolation and culture of endothelial progenitor cells was optimized and the decellularization process of human arteries was improved, demonstrating the absence of cells by histological and immunological analysis. A new bioreactor was then designed with the aim of recellularizing human arteries. Main achievement: a bioreactor has been built with improved performance with respect to existing bioreactors in terms of reduced size, complete sterilization capacity, an innovative system that allows control of intravascular flow to mimic physiological blood flow, etc. In addition, the bioreactor has been validated by coating decellularized human arteries with biocompatible molecules and subsequently with human endothelial cells, which attached and grew on the inner walls of the vessels, as confirmed by histological and immunocytochemical assays.