| 研究実績の概要 |
Engineering thick, cell-dense artificial tissues to replace diseased organs has been hindered so far by the difficulty in maintaining the cells alive after implantation due to insufficient oxygen supply. Recently, biomaterials that release oxygen thanks to the incorporation of various peroxides have been used successfully in vitro to supply oxygen to cultured cells, preventing cell death due to hypoxia. However, such materials have so far not been tested for the development of thick (several mm) tissues in vitro or in vivo.
The aim of this research was to create thick tissue constructs based on innovative biomaterials that both promote blood vessel growth upon implantation into a host while simultaneously releasing oxygen to maintain the viability of the construct.
So far, oxygen-releasing biomaterials have been prepared consisting of polydimethylsiloxane sponges containing up to 20% of calcium peroxide. Those sponges have been shown to increase the oxygen concentration in the cell culture medium. Furthermore, cells cultured at a high density in the sponges were still viable after up to seven days in culture and showed a decreased hypoxic response compared to cells cultured in control sponges. Animal experiments are still underway to show a beneficial effect in vivo on vascularization of the implanted constructs.
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