Stimulating Effect of an Arteriovenous Shunt on the in Vivo Growth of Isografted Fibroblasts: A Preliminary Report

Abstract

Isogenous fibroblasts derived from the skin of inbred Sprague-Dawley rats were cultured in vitro, labeled with bisbenzamide (BB) or carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA), and seeded into polycarbonate growth chambers. After 24 h incubation in vitro, the chambers, either empty or containing an arteriovenous (AV) shunt, were implanted subcutaneously into the inguinal region of Sprague-Dawley rats and examined by fluorescence microscopy 2 or 7 days later. The AV shunt remained patent in all experiments. The density of labeled cells on the chamber surface in all chambers decreased in the first 2 days after insertion. At 7 days, the cell density in the empty chambers had not altered from the 2-day level, but the density in the AV shunt containing chambers had increased to almost three times the day 2 level (p = 0.013). It appears that an AV shunt can induce a significant proliferation of fibroblasts implanted adjacent to it. For at least 7 days after labeling, BB and CFDA provide a simple and effective method of quantitative detection of implanted fibroblasts. It is concluded that nutrients from the AV shunt implanted in a growth chamber result in a significant increase in the number of viable, matrix-synthesizing cells, compared with AV shunt-free controls.

Myocardial Engineeringin Vivo: Formation and Characterization of Contractile, Vascularized Three-Dimensional Cardiac Tissue

“…This model has been shown to support pancreatic islet cells and adipocytes. 34,35 These findings lend support to the utilization of these models as a potential platform for three-dimensional myocardial tissue engineering.…”

Cardiac Tissue Engineering in an In Vivo Vascularized Chamber

“…This model supports the survival and growth of adipose tissue, 17 implanted skeletal muscle myoblasts, 17 and fibroblasts. 18 In the present study, we examined the ability of this model to support the survival and growth of implanted neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. The chamber was seeded with cardiomyocytes and left to develop over several weeks.…”

Microsurgical arterovenous loops and biological templates: A novel in vivo chamber for tissue engineering

“…In particular, Morrison and coworkers have recently demonstrated that this approach can be used for in vivo engineering of various newly formed tissues. 3,[10][11][12][13][14] In fact, sandwiching an AV loop between two layers of an artificial dermis induces the formation of an internal new vascularized soft tissue that resembles a connective or adipose tissue. 3 Here we describe a new model of tissue engineering based on the use of a commercially available crosslinked collagen/GAG template as a new type of matrix to envelop an AV loop in the rat groin.…”