Mechanisms of Vascularization in Skin Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering is a multidisciplinary field dealing with the fabrication of artificial tissue substitutes for regenerative medicine. Current regenerative medicine uses various types of tissue grafts, which have different advantages and disadvantages depending on their origin, such as insufficient amount of replacement tissue when using autologous grafts or immunogenicity of allogeneic or xenogeneic grafts. An alternative could be artificial tissue replacement. Artificial tissue constructs may consist of a non-living matrix and a cellular component. The cellular component may remodel the construct, form a functional part of the construct, or help integrate the construct into the host body. A significant problem in the formation of such replacements is sufficient vascularization. It is essential to keep cells in larger tissue constructs alive. Vascularization can be enhanced by the addition of vascular endothelial cells that can form capillaries independently within the construct. Vascular formation can also be aided by angiogenic growth factors by their direct application to the construct or by their formation, e.g. in stem cells cultured in the construct. Another approach is 3D bioprinting, allowing direct placement of specific cell types, growth factors or biomaterials in the construct. This..