NOVEL STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE VASCULARISATION OF TISSUE-ENGINEERED SCAFFOLDS FOR BONE REPAIR APPLICATIONS

Autogenous bone grafting limitations have motivated the development of Tissue-Engineered (TE) biomaterials that offer an alternative as bone void fillers. However, the lack of a blood supply within implanted constructs may result in avascular necrosis and construct failure1. The aim of this project was to investigate the potential of novel TE constructs to promote vascularisation and bone defect repair using two distinct approaches. In Study 1, we investigated the potential of a mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and endothelial cell (EC) co-culture to stimulate pre-vascularisation of biomaterials prior to in vivo implantation2. In Study 2, we investigated the potential of TE hypertrophic cartilage to promote the release of angiogenic factors such as VEGF, vascular invasion and subsequent endochondral bone formation in an in vivo model.Collagen-only (Coll), collagen-glycosaminoglycan (CG) and collagen-hydroxyapatite (CHA) scaffolds were fabricated by freeze-drying3, seeded with cells and implanted into critical-...