Biomaterials approaches in vascular engineering: A review of past and future trends

Abstract

Creating functional vasculatures remains one of the fundamental challenges that must be addressed before large, complex tissue-engineered constructs can be used in clinical applications. Our current understanding of stem cell biology and vascular morphogenesis has allowed tissue engineers to design biomaterials that mimic the properties of native tissue and promote vascularization. Biomaterials approaches in tissue engineering include differentiation of vascular cells, delivery of angiogenic factors, in vivo and in vitro prevascularization, as well as microfabrication of complex vascular networks. This chapter will discuss the processes involved in vascular network assembly; these processes inspire the design of biomaterials to fit tissue vascularization. Previous work in this field will be described to allow discussion of the current state of the art and to provide insights into its future directions. © 2011 Springer-Verlag/Wien.