A combination of matrix stiffness and degradability dictate microvascular network assembly and remodeling in cell-laden poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels.

ABSTRACT: The formation of functional capillary blood vessels that can sustain the metabolic demands of transplanted parenchymal cells remains one of the biggest challenges to the clinical realization of engineered tissues for regenerative medicine. As such, there remains a need to better understand the fundamental influences of the microenvironment on vascularization. Poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels have been widely adopted to interrogate the influence of matrix physicochemical properties on cellular phenotypes and morphogenetic programs, including the formation of microvascular networks, in part due to the ease with which their properties can be controlled. In this study, we co-encapsulated endothelial cells and fibroblasts in PEG-norbornene (PEGNB) hydrogels in which stiffness and degradabi

SUBMITTER: Friend NE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10191204 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature