Cell‐based strategies for vascular regeneration

Abstract

Vascular regeneration is known to play an essential role in the repair of injured tissues mainly through accelerating the repair of vascular injury caused by vascular diseases, as well as the recovery of ischemic tissues. However, the clinical vascular regeneration is still challenging. Cell-based therapy is thought to be a promising strategy for vascular regeneration, since various cells have been identified to exert important influences on the process of vascular regeneration such as the enhanced endothelium formation on the surface of vascular grafts, and the induction of vessel-like network formation in the ischemic tissues. Here are a vast number of diverse cell-based strategies that have been extensively studied in vascular regeneration. These strategies can be further classified into three main categories, including cell transplantation, construction of tissue-engineered grafts, and surface modification of scaffolds. Cells used in these strategies mainly refer to terminally differentiated vascular cells, pluripotent stem cells, multipotent stem cells, and unipotent stem cells. The aim of this review is to summarize the reported research advances on the application of various cells for vascular regeneration, yielding insights into future clinical treatment for injured tissue/organ.

The synergistic effect of bone forming peptide‐1 and endothelial progenitor cells to promote vascularization of tissue engineered bone

“…The current tissue engineering strategies for repairing large bone defects are faced with unmet vascularization of the implanted grafts . Insufficient blood supply often leads to delayed integration or even failure of the engineered bone constructs . Here, in this study, our findings demonstrated that BFP‐1 could promote the angiogenic functions of EPCs by activating ALK‐1/Smad pathway in vitro .…”

“…In contrast, tissue engineered bone grafts have shown great potentials in repairing bone defects with the benefits of various materials and feasible process of fabrication . However, lack of vascularization hinders the engineered bone grafts to comply with host tissues, and necrosis of the core area in grafts often occurs . Therefore, enhancement of the vascularization in tissue engineered bone substitutes is of vital importance to improve the effect of bone regeneration.…”

Target regulation of both VECs and VSMCs by dual‐loading miRNA‐126 and miRNA‐145 in the bilayered electrospun membrane for small‐diameter vascular regeneration

“…However, the clinical utility of small‐diameter (<6 mm) vascular grafts is still a thorny challenge because of thrombosis or intimal hyperplasia . Rational regulation of physiological activity of vascular endothelial cells (VECs) and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) is effective for rapid endothelialization, hyperplasia inhibition and consequent long‐term patency …”

Artificial Polymeric Scaffolds as Extracellular Matrix Substitutes for Autologous Conjunctival Goblet Cell Expansion

“…Importantly, substrates also must support stem cells as these cells are vital to the long-term viability of the transplants for a variety of tissues. 22–24 In addition, the substrate must be sufficiently porous to allow for free diffusion of glucose, proteins, and ions, as well as in-growth of regenerating nerves and blood vessels to penetrate through the membrane.…”