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Remodeling of an acellular collagen graft into a physiologically responsive neovessel

Nature Biotechnology volume 17, pages 1083–1086 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

Surgical treatment of vascular disease has become common, creating the need for a readily available, small-diameter vascular graft. However, the use of synthetic materials is limited to grafts larger than 5–6 mm because of the frequency of occlusion observed with smaller-diameter prosthetics. An alternative to synthetic materials would be a biomaterial that could be used in the design of a tissue-engineered graft. We demonstrate that a small-diameter (4 mm) graft constructed from a collagen biomaterial derived from the submucosa of the small intestine and type I bovine collagen has the potential to integrate into the host tissue and provide a scaffold for remodeling into a functional blood vessel. The results obtained using a rabbit arterial bypass model have shown excellent hemostasis and patency. Furthermore, within three months after implantation, the collagen grafts were remodeled into cellularized vessels that exhibited physiological activity in response to vasoactive agents.

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Figure 1: Histological evaluation of explanted grafts.
Figure 2: Identification of smooth muscle cells in the explanted grafts.
Figure 3: Endothelialization of the graft lumen.
Figure 4: Vasomotor responsiveness of explanted grafts.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Jeffrey Crews, Rachel Brothers, Kim Medeiros, and Dan O'Reilly of Organogenesis for assistance with the histology, Dr. Joseph Laning for immunological analyses and Dr. Einar Svendsen of the GADE Institute, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, for the scanning electron microscopy.

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Author notes

  1. Tam Huynh

    Present address: Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Vascular Biology and Atherosclerosis Research, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, 27710, NC

    Tam Huynh & Per-Otto Hagen

  2. Organogenesis Inc., Canton, 02021, MA

    Ginger Abraham, James Murray & Susan Sullivan

  3. KGB Associates, Inc., Charleston, 29401, SC

    Kelvin Brockbank

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  1. Tam Huynh
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  2. Ginger Abraham
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  6. Susan Sullivan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan Sullivan.

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Huynh, T., Abraham, G., Murray, J. et al. Remodeling of an acellular collagen graft into a physiologically responsive neovessel. Nat Biotechnol 17, 1083–1086 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/15062

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