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Self‐Oxygenation of Tissues Orchestrates Full‐Thickness Vascularization of Living Implants
Author(s) -
Farzin Ali,
Hassan Shabir,
Moreira Teixeira Liliana S.,
Gurian Melvin,
Crispim João F.,
Manhas Varun,
Carlier Aurélie,
Bae Hojae,
Geris Liesbet,
Noshadi Iman,
Shin Su Ryon,
Leijten Jeroen
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced functional materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.069
H-Index - 322
eISSN - 1616-3028
pISSN - 1616-301X
DOI - 10.1002/adfm.202100850
Subject(s) - oxygenation , oxygen tension , regenerative medicine , in vivo , biomedical engineering , tissue engineering , transplantation , implant , materials science , microbiology and biotechnology , oxygen , biology , stem cell , medicine , chemistry , surgery , organic chemistry
Bioengineering of tissues and organs has the potential to generate functional replacement organs. However, achieving the full‐thickness vascularization that is required for long‐term survival of living implants has remained a grand challenge, especially for clinically sized implants. During the pre‐vascular phase, implanted engineered tissues are forced to metabolically rely on the diffusion of nutrients from adjacent host‐tissue, which for larger living implants results in anoxia, cell death, and ultimately implant failure. Here it is reported that this challenge can be addressed by engineering self‐oxygenating tissues, which is achieved via the incorporation of hydrophobic oxygen‐generating micromaterials into engineered tissues. Self‐oxygenation of tissues transforms anoxic stresses into hypoxic stimulation in a homogenous and tissue size‐independent manner. The in situ elevation of oxygen tension enables the sustained production of high quantities of angiogenic factors by implanted cells, which are offered a metabolically protected pro‐angiogenic microenvironment. Numerical simulations predict that self‐oxygenation of living tissues will effectively orchestrate rapid full‐thickness vascularization of implanted tissues, which is empirically confirmed via in vivo experimentation. Self‐oxygenation of tissues thus represents a novel, effective, and widely applicable strategy to enable the vascularization living implants, which is expected to advance organ transplantation and regenerative medicine applications.