^{The Chorioallantoic Membrane Assay for Biomaterial Testing in Tissue Engineering: A Short-TermIn VivoPreclinical Model}

Abstract

The fields of regenerative medicine and tissue engineering offer significant promise to address the urgent unmet need for therapeutic strategies in a number of debilitating conditions, diseases, and tissue needs of an aging population. Critically, the safety and efficacy of these pioneering strategies need to be assessed before clinical application, often necessitating animal research as a prerequisite. The growing number of newly developed potential treatments, together with the ethical concerns involved in the application of in vivo studies, requires the implementation of alternative models to facilitate such screening of new treatments. The present review examines the current in vitro and in vivo models of preclinical research with particular emphasis on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay as a minimally invasive, short-term in vivo alternative. Traditionally used as an angiogenic assay, the CAM of the developing chick embryo provides a noninnervated rapidly growing vascular bed, which can serve as a surrogate blood supply for organ culture, and hence a platform for biomaterial testing. This review offers an overview of the CAM assay and its applications in biomedicine as an in vivo model for organ culture and angiogenesis. Moreover, the application of imaging techniques (magnetic resonance imaging, microcomputed tomography, fluorescence labeling for tracking) will be discussed for the evaluation of biomaterials cultured on the CAM. Finally, an overview of the CAM assay methodology will be provided to facilitate the adoption of this technique across laboratories and the regenerative medicine community, and thus aid the reduction, replacement, and refinement of animal experiments in research.

Functionalising Collagen-Based Scaffolds With Platelet-Rich Plasma for Enhanced Skin Wound Healing Potential

“…As a final way to test angiogenic/vascularization properties, we challenged our scaffolds in the CAM assay. Since the CAM is highly vascularised, and chick embryos only become immunocompetent by day 18 of development, the CAM assay has been extensively used to test the angiogenic potential of scaffolds without inducing an immune response (Azzarello et al, 2007;Fishman et al, 2013;Li et al, 2015;Woloszyk et al, 2016;Moreno-Jimenez et al, 2017;Ryan et al, 2019). In this work, we directly compared collagen-GAG ( Figure 8G) with composite scaffolds (Figure 8H).…”

Characterization of the extracellular matrix in the chorioallantoic membrane of water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in early gestation

“…This remodelling process is fundamental for the use of this membrane as biomaterial, since it shows to be a dynamic tissue, with the variation of its components. In addition, the high rate of collagen may be one of the parameters for the use of tissue as a biomaterial, since it is considered one of the main proteins of the extracellular matrix with excellent cytopathology (Moreno‐Jimenez, Kanczler, Hulsart‐Billstrom, Inglis, & Oreffo, ).…”

Modification of silicone elastomers with Bioglass 45S5® increases in ovo tissue biointegration

“…The CAM assay is an easy and fast assay often used in the field of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine . It allows short‐term determination of a biomaterial's biocompatibility and integration into the chorioallantoic membrane of the chicken embryo .…”