Fabrication of artificial vessels derived human vascular cells using the culture system of hydrostatic pressure under hypoxia

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K21638
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Medium-sized Section 55:Surgery of the organs maintaining homeostasis and related fields
• Research Institution: Tokyo Medical University
• Principal Investigator: Yokoyama Utako 東京医科大学, 医学部, 主任教授 (70404994)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 上野 高義 大阪大学, 大学院医学系研究科, 教授 (60437316) ; 金谷 知潤 大阪大学, 医学部附属病院, 特任助教 (50793262)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-07-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 再生医療 / 循環器 / メカニカルストレス / 細胞・組織 / バイオテクノロジー

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Although the development of tissue engineering has been progressing in recent years, it is difficult to fabricate blood vessels from scaffoldless biomaterials, which require high mechanical properties such as elasticity and rigidity. In this study, we demonstrated that periodic ultrahigh-pressure hydrostatic pressure culture under hypoxia enabled to fabrication of implantable artificial blood vessels composed solely of human umbilical cord vascular smooth muscle cells. It was shown that cells were self-organized by promoting cell-cell adhesion, cell-extracellular matrix adhesion, and extracellular matrix cross-linking by the ultrahigh-pressure hypoxic culture method.

Free Research Field

循環生理学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

血管疾患の罹患者は多く、より生体適合性の高い人工血管が求められている。足場材料を使用しない細胞のみから構成される人工血管は、より生理的な細胞外マトリックスが構築される点から高い生体適合性が期待される。本研究で開発した超高圧低酸素培養法は細胞を自己組織化できる可能性を有することが示されたことから、今後循環器疾患のみならず他の分野での代替組織の構築にも寄与することが期待される。