On-Site Differentiation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells into Vascular Cells on Extracellular Matrix Scaffold Under Mechanical Stimulations for Vascular Tissue Engineering

Abstract

Small-diameter vascular grafts are considered to be a promising strategy to treat late-stage vascular diseases, one of the largest causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, limited sources of functional vascular cells remain a major obstacle in vascular tissue engineering. Here we describe a novel approach whereby functional vascular cells were obtained by on-site differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells on a vascular extracellular matrix scaffold under mechanical stimulations in a rotary bioreactor, which has the potential to work as an alternative source for robust implantable artificial vessel grafts.

Keywords: Differentiation; Extracellular matrix scaffold; Mechanical stimulation; Mesenchymal stem cell; Vascular cells.