TY - JOUR
T1 - Future Perspectives on the Role of Stem Cells and Extracellular Vesicles in Vascular Tissue Regeneration
AU - Cunnane, Eoghan M.
AU - Weinbaum, Justin S.
AU - O'Brien, Fergal J.
AU - Vorp, David A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© Copyright © 2018 Cunnane, Weinbaum, O'Brien and Vorp.
PY - 2018/7/3
Y1 - 2018/7/3
N2 - Vascular tissue engineering is an area of regenerative medicine that attempts to create functional replacement tissue for defective segments of the vascular network. One approach to vascular tissue engineering utilizes seeding of biodegradable tubular scaffolds with stem (and/or progenitor) cells wherein the seeded cells initiate scaffold remodeling and prevent thrombosis through paracrine signaling to endogenous cells. Stem cells have received an abundance of attention in recent literature regarding the mechanism of their paracrine therapeutic effect. However, very little of this mechanistic research has been performed under the aegis of vascular tissue engineering. Therefore, the scope of this review includes the current state of TEVGs generated using the incorporation of stem cells in biodegradable scaffolds and potential cell-free directions for TEVGs based on stem cell secreted products. The current generation of stem cell-seeded vascular scaffolds are based on the premise that cells should be obtained from an autologous source. However, the reduced regenerative capacity of stem cells from certain patient groups limits the therapeutic potential of an autologous approach. This limitation prompts the need to investigate allogeneic stem cells or stem cell secreted products as therapeutic bases for TEVGs. The role of stem cell derived products, particularly extracellular vesicles (EVs), in vascular tissue engineering is exciting due to their potential use as a cell-free therapeutic base. EVs offer many benefits as a therapeutic base for functionalizing vascular scaffolds such as cell specific targeting, physiological delivery of cargo to target cells, reduced immunogenicity, and stability under physiological conditions. However, a number of points must be addressed prior to the effective translation of TEVG technologies that incorporate stem cell derived EVs such as standardizing stem cell culture conditions, EV isolation, scaffold functionalization with EVs, and establishing the therapeutic benefit of this combination treatment.
AB - Vascular tissue engineering is an area of regenerative medicine that attempts to create functional replacement tissue for defective segments of the vascular network. One approach to vascular tissue engineering utilizes seeding of biodegradable tubular scaffolds with stem (and/or progenitor) cells wherein the seeded cells initiate scaffold remodeling and prevent thrombosis through paracrine signaling to endogenous cells. Stem cells have received an abundance of attention in recent literature regarding the mechanism of their paracrine therapeutic effect. However, very little of this mechanistic research has been performed under the aegis of vascular tissue engineering. Therefore, the scope of this review includes the current state of TEVGs generated using the incorporation of stem cells in biodegradable scaffolds and potential cell-free directions for TEVGs based on stem cell secreted products. The current generation of stem cell-seeded vascular scaffolds are based on the premise that cells should be obtained from an autologous source. However, the reduced regenerative capacity of stem cells from certain patient groups limits the therapeutic potential of an autologous approach. This limitation prompts the need to investigate allogeneic stem cells or stem cell secreted products as therapeutic bases for TEVGs. The role of stem cell derived products, particularly extracellular vesicles (EVs), in vascular tissue engineering is exciting due to their potential use as a cell-free therapeutic base. EVs offer many benefits as a therapeutic base for functionalizing vascular scaffolds such as cell specific targeting, physiological delivery of cargo to target cells, reduced immunogenicity, and stability under physiological conditions. However, a number of points must be addressed prior to the effective translation of TEVG technologies that incorporate stem cell derived EVs such as standardizing stem cell culture conditions, EV isolation, scaffold functionalization with EVs, and establishing the therapeutic benefit of this combination treatment.
KW - allogeneic
KW - autologous
KW - conditioned media
KW - exosomes
KW - extracellular vesicles
KW - stem cells
KW - tissue engineered vascular grafts
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059831732&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fcvm.2018.00086
DO - 10.3389/fcvm.2018.00086
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85059831732
SN - 2297-055X
VL - 5
SP - 86
JO - Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
JF - Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine
M1 - 86
ER -