First Evidence that Bone Marrow Cells Contribute to the Construction of Tissue Engineered Vascular Autografts In Vivo

The authors designed and tested a bone marrow cell-seeded biodegradable scaffold to repair cardiac defects that avoids the problems of unwanted adverse effects and lack of growth potential. After being labeled with green fluorescence, bone marrow cells were seeded onto scaffolds and implanted in the inferior vena cava of dogs. After implantation, the grafts were analyzed by using antibodies against endothelial cell lineage markers, endothelium and smooth muscle cells at 3 hours, and then at 2, 4, and 8 weeks. The tissue-engineered vascular autographs caused no obstruction or stenosis. The seeded bone marrow cells expressed endothelial cell lineage markers that were adhered to the scaffold. Proliferation and differentiation followed and resulted in the expression of smooth muscle cell markers and endothelial cell markers, vascular endothelial growth factor and angiopoietin-1. The study results provide evidence that bone marrow cells enable the establishment of tissue-engineered vascular autographs.