Engineering large and geometrically controlled vascularized nerve tissue in collagen hydrogels to restore large-sized volumetric muscle loss.

ABSTRACT: Developing scalable vascularized and innervated tissue is a critical challenge for the successful clinical application of tissue-engineered constructs. Collagen hydrogels are extensively utilized in cell-mediated vascular network formation because of their naturally excellent biological properties. However, the substantial increase in hydrogel contraction induced by populated cells limits their long-term use. Previous studies attempted to mitigate this issue by concentrating collagen pre-polymer solutions or synthesizing covalently crosslinked collagen hydrogels. However, these methods only partially reduce hydrogel contraction while hindering blood vessel formation within the hydrogels. To address this challenge, we introduced additional support in the form of a supportive spacer to count

SUBMITTER: Wei SY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11606314 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature