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Tissue‐engineered trachea from a 3D‐printed scaffold enhances whole‐segment tracheal repair in a goat model
Author(s) -
Xia Dekai,
Jin Dawei,
Wang Qian,
Gao Manchen,
Zhang Jialing,
Zhang Hengyi,
Bai Jie,
Feng Bei,
Chen Maolin,
Huang Yanhui,
Zhong Yumin,
Witman Nevin,
Wang Wei,
Xu Zhiwei,
Zhang Haibo,
Yin Meng,
Fu Wei
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.835
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-7005
pISSN - 1932-6254
DOI - 10.1002/term.2828
Subject(s) - scaffold , tracheal stenosis , in vivo , tissue engineering , transplantation , 3d printed , ex vivo , biomedical engineering , bronchoscopy , medicine , cartilage , animal study , animal model , surgery , pathology , anatomy , biology , airway , microbiology and biotechnology
Traditional treatment therapies for tracheal stenosis often cause severe post‐operative complications. To solve the current difficulties, novel and more suitable long‐term treatments are needed. A whole‐segment tissue‐engineered trachea (TET) representing the native goat trachea was 3D printed using a poly(caprolactone) (PCL) scaffold engineered with autologous auricular cartilage cells. The TET underwent mechanical analysis followed by in vivo implantations in order to evaluate the clinical feasibility and potential. The 3D‐printed scaffolds were successfully cellularized, as observed by scanning electron microscopy. Mechanical force compression studies revealed that both PCL scaffolds and TETs have a more robust compressive strength than does the native trachea. In vivo implantation of TETs in the experimental group resulted in significantly higher mean post‐operative survival times, 65.00 ± 24.01 days ( n = 5), when compared with the control group, which received autologous trachea grafts, 17.60 ± 3.51 days ( n = 5). Although tracheal narrowing was confirmed by bronchoscopy and computed tomography examination in the experimental group, tissue necrosis was only observed in the control group. Furthermore, an encouraging epithelial‐like tissue formation was observed in the TETs after transplantation. This large animal study provides potential preclinical evidence around the employment of an orthotopic transplantation of a whole 3D‐printed TET.