Fibrin gel – advantages of a new scaffold in cardiovascular tissue engineering

Abstract

Fibrin gel combines a number of important properties of an ideal scaffold. It can be produced as a complete autologous scaffold. It is moldable and degradation is controllable by the use of aprotinin.

The effects of synthetic and natural scaffolds on viability and proliferation of adipose-derived stem cells

“…Beside, cell adhesion is a problem in using these scaffolds. About 30-40% of the early-seeded cells do not attach to the scaffold; their uses would be limited in the future (Jockenhoevel et al 2001).…”

Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering Based on Fibrin-Gel-Scaffolds

“…• Fibrin gel is a naturally-occurring scaffold that can be isolated as an autologous substrate from blood of the patient in question (Heselhaus, 2011); • Starting with a cell suspension in fibrinogen solution, fibrin gel scaffolds offer immediate high cell seeding efficiency and homogenous cell distribution by gelation entrapment, with a minimal loss of cells during the seeding procedure; furthermore, there is no time-consuming cell ingrowth from the scaffold surface to the deeper parts of the scaffold (Jockenhoevel et al, 2001a); • Polymerisation as well as degradation of the fibrin gel is controllable and can be adapted to tissue development through the use of the protease inhibitors, such as aprotinin and tranexamic acid (Cholewinski et al, 2009); • Local, covalent immobilisation of different growth factors is possible, while PRP gels can be developed to enhance the content and delivery of growth factors (Wirz et al, 2011); • Production of complex 3-D structures such as heart valve conduits or vascular grafts with complex side branches is possible through the use of an injection moulding technique (Flanagan et al, 2007;Jockenhoevel et al, 2001b); • Textile-reinforced fibrin-based grafts can be implanted in the arterial circulation and function for at least 6 months in vivo (Koch et al, 2010); • Fibrin-based tissue engineering can be merged with self-expanding stents to create a platform technology for cardiovascular, and other, diseases. These properties highlight the significant potential for creation of functional, autologous implantable cardiovascular prostheses in future using tissues derived from the patient.…”

Prosthetic Aortic Valves: A Surgical and Bioengineering Approach

“…A hybrid structure of synthetic and living biomaterials is made in vitro, which by implantation in the living organism is expected to continue remodelling into real living tissue and organ. As the final form, a natural living heart valve, without any synthetic scaffold components is expected to replace the fully biodegraded initially implanted heart valve device (Flanangan & Pandit, 2003;Ye et al, 2000;Jockenhoevel et al, 2001 …”