Descripción del proyecto
Nueva vascularización de bioingeniería para trasplantes listos para usar
El lecho capilar es una parte esencial del sistema circulatorio que transporta oxígeno y nutrientes a las células y los tejidos y elimina residuos nocivos. Sin él, la sangre circularía por el cuerpo como un tren de mercancías que no se detiene en las estaciones para realizar recogidas y entregas. Aunque se han logrado grandes avances en la «construcción» de tejidos y órganos para el trasplante, inducir la vascularización esencial de tal manera que los tejidos y los órganos sean viables tras el trasplante sigue suponiendo un desafío. El proyecto CapBed, financiado con fondos europeos, desarrollará lechos capilares de bioingeniería capaces de inducir la vascularización en órganos fabricados en laboratorios, lo cual permitirá conectarlos con el flujo sanguíneo del paciente tras el trasplante, garantizando así que los nuevos órganos empiecen a funcionar de forma saludable.
Objetivo
The demand for donated organs vastly outnumbers the supply, leading each year to the death of thousands of people and the suffering of millions more. Engineered tissues and organs following Tissue Engineering approaches are a possible solution to this problem. However, a prevascularization solution to irrigate complex engineered tissues and assure their survival after transplantation is currently elusive. In the human body, complex organs and tissues irrigation is achieved by a network of blood vessels termed capillary bed which suggests such a structure is needed in engineered tissues. Previous approaches to engineer capillary beds reached different levels of success but none yielded a fully functional one due to the inability in simultaneously addressing key elements such as correct angiogenic cell populations, a suitable matrix and dynamic conditions that mimic blood flow.
CapBed aims at proposing a new technology to fabricate in vitro capillary beds that include a vascular axis that can be anastomosed with a patient circulation. Such capillary beds could be used as prime tools to prevascularize in vitro engineered tissues and provide fast perfusion of those after transplantation to a patient. Cutting edge techniques will be for the first time integrated in a disruptive approach to address the requirements listed above. Angiogenic cell sheets of human Adipose-derived Stromal Vascular fraction cells will provide the cell populations that integrate the capillaries and manage its intricate formation, as well as the collagen required to build the matrix that will hold the capillary beds. Innovative fabrication technologies such as 3D printing and laser photoablation will be used for the fabrication of the micropatterned matrix that will allow fluid flow through microfluidics. The resulting functional capillary beds can be used with virtually every tissue engineering strategy rendering the proposed strategy with massive economical, scientific and medical potential
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidics
- engineering and technologycivil engineeringwater engineeringirrigation
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologytissue engineering
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineeringadditive manufacturing
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinetransplantation
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Régimen de financiación
ERC-STG - Starting GrantInstitución de acogida
4704 553 Braga
Portugal