VASCULAR TISSUE ENGINEERING

Prof. Dr. Mathias Wilhelmi | PD Dr. Thomas Aper

We deal with the tissue engineering of vascular prostheses, a promising replacement for arteries or veins. Such artificially produced vessels, especially if they are based on the body's own starting products such as fibrin, have a low risk of thrombosis and infection, as they have a high potential for regeneration and remodeling.

In our research group we pursue 2 different ways to produce biological scaffolds for tissue engineering. On the one hand, we use decellularized animal arteries, in this case from horses, because of their high mechanical stability and low immunogenicity.

On the other hand, we use special molds and centrifuges to form vessels for arterial replacement from the blood component fibrin. These fibrin vessels can then be colonized with endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells to resemble the original. It is also important to colonize the outer surface of the artificially produced arteries before implantation.

In our working group, we are also working on the production of fibrin patches for dilatation plasty in the treatment of children with congenital heart defects, where no foreign material should be used if possible. We are also working on the characterization of vascular stents with regard to possible cell colonization, the determination of graft-specific serum antibodies and an ex-vivo perfusion system for research into arteriosclerosis.