De novo engineering of tissue: Teaching old materials new tricks

POLY 277

V. Prasad Shastri, prasad.shastri@vanderbilt.edu, Vanderbilt University Station B, Vanderbilt University, Box 351631, Nashville, TN 37232
Some of the challenges involved with engineering functional tissue for transplantation include, invoking and controlling neo-vascularization, localized cell recruitment and phenotypic differentiation of cells. In the past 5 years, our laboratory has made significant progress in leveraging existing materials with favorable biocompatibility profiles in inducing phenotypic differentiation of pluripotent cells and de novo engineering of bone and cartilage for autologous transplantation. Using the in vivo bioreactor (IVB), pioneered in our laboratory, we have demonstrated the de novo engineering of bone and cartilage without the need for cell transplantation and/or growth factor administration. More importantly, these two tissues with different metabolic requirements, biochemistry and biomechanical characteristics can be engineered purely through judicious choice of biomaterials. This talk will focus on our clinical experience of the IVB approach.