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Human arteries engineered in vitro
Author(s) -
McKee J Andrew,
Banik Soma SR,
Boyer Matthew J,
Hamad Nesrin M,
Lawson Jeffrey H,
Niklason Laura E,
Counter Christopher M
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
embo reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.584
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1469-3178
pISSN - 1469-221X
DOI - 10.1038/sj.embor.embor847
Subject(s) - telomerase reverse transcriptase , telomerase , biology , in vitro , microbiology and biotechnology , limiting , tissue engineering , anatomy , genetics , mechanical engineering , engineering , gene
There is a pressing need to develop methods to engineer small‐calibre arteries for bypass surgery. We hypothesized that the rate‐limiting step that has thwarted previous attempts to engineer such vessels from non‐neonatal tissues is the limited proliferative capacity of smooth muscle cells (SMCs), which are the main cellular component of these vessels. Ectopic expression of the human telomerase reverse transcriptase subunit (hTERT) has been shown recently to extend the lifespan of certain human cells. We therefore introduced hTERT into human SMCs and found that the resulting cells proliferated far beyond their normal lifespan but retained characteristics of normal control SMCs. Importantly, using these non‐neonatal SMCs, we were able to engineer mechanically robust human vessels, a crucial step towards creating arteries of clinical value for bypass surgery.