In vitro pre-vascularisation of tissue-engineered constructs A co-culture perspective

In vitro pre-vascularization is one of the main vascularization strategies in the tissue engineering field. Culturing cells within a tissue-engineered construct (TEC) prior to implantation provides researchers with a greater degree of control over the fate of the cells. However, balancing the diverse range of different cell culture parameters in vitro is seldom easy and in most cases, especially in highly vascularized tissues, more than one cell type will reside within the cell culture system. Culturing multiple cell types in the same construct presents its own unique challenges and pitfalls. The following review examines endothelial-driven vascularization and evaluates the direct and indirect role other cell types have in vessel and capillary formation. The article then analyses the different parameters researchers can modulate in a co-culture system in order to design optimal tissue-engineered constructs to match desired clinical applications

Locally delivered bioactive agents as treatment modalities in the management of medication-induced osteonecrosis of the jaws

Recent literature suggests that suppressed bone healing and angiogenesis contributes significantly to the pathogenesis of Medication induced osteonecrosis of jaws (MRONJ), a complex condition commonly associated with anti-resorptive agents. This in vitro study evaluated the effect of locally delivered angiogenic growth factor (VEGF165) with or without osteogenic growth factor (BMP-7) to enhance bone healing, thereby preventing the occurrence of MRONJ. A chemically defined hydrogel (HyStem-HP, Glycosan Biosciences) containing a combination of thiolmodified hyaluronan, heparin and denatured collagen was crosslinked with thiol-reactive, PEGDA. To establish the in vitro release kinetics, 100 and 200 ng of rat VEGF165 (Biovision) or BMP-7 (250 and 500 ng/mL) was loaded into a 500 lL hydrogel prior to crosslinking (Hystem-HP)