Spatially defined stem cell-laden hydrogel islands for directing endothelial tubulogenesis

J Mater Chem B. 2015 Oct 28;3(40):7896-7898. doi: 10.1039/C5TB01294E. Epub 2015 Aug 6.

Abstract

The spatiotemporal coordination of angiogenesis in synthetic materials is important for mimicking natural tissue morphogenesis. Here we report patterned hydrogel encapsulation of mesenchymal stem cells to direct endothelial tubulogenesis in co-culture. Tubulogenesis occurs preferentially over MSC patterns, suggesting this strategy may prove useful in guiding the design of heterotypic engineered tissues.