Soon, the growth of tissues and organs in the laboratory for transplantation to patients may become easier, and regenerative medicine may become commonplace, as scientists have discovered an effective way to generate three-dimensional networks of blood vessels vital for tissue survival.
Importantly, this technique of growing blood vessels reduces the risk of graft rejection as the patient's cells are used. It was developed by scientists from the University of Bath in conjunction with colleagues from the Bristol Institute. The research results are published in Scientific Reports.
Until recently, the lack of adequate scaffolds that can support the growth of blood vessels was a major limitation in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Other methods produced only small blood vessels such as capillaries, which reduced the chance of a successful transplant. In addition, other methods of tissue growth require the use of animal products, which is fraught with complications.
Dr. Giordano Pula, professor of pharmacology at the University of Bath and head of the research team that made the discovery, said one of the major challenges in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is providing new tissue with a network of blood vessels and establishing a connection with the patient's circulatory system. The above factors are of decisive importance for the new tissue to take root and integrate with the surrounding tissues.
In experiments in the gel obtained from platelets isolated from the patient's blood, the formation of a circulatory network occurred. In addition, the gel contained a number of different factors that can interact with existing blood vessels and form bonds with new structures. The fusion of tissue-specific cells offers the potential to form fully functional tissues or organs that integrate with the patient's body.
This discovery has implications for the approach of regenerative medicine. Professor Peter Weisberg, director of the British Heart Foundation, said that one and a half million people in the UK are living with heart failure, an irreversible condition that results in people being unable to perform daily activities such as climbing stairs or even going to the store.
All living tissues require blood flow, so one of the main goals of regenerative medicine today is to find ways to grow the bloodstream from scratch. Previous attempts in this direction using human cells have not been as successful. The beauty of the new approach is that the components of one's own blood production - the circulatory network - will help grow new organs.