Papon Muangsanit

Development of Aligned Endothelial Cell Constructs to Promote Nerve Repair

Tissue engineering offers a promising way to treat peripheral nerve injury. Previous studies showed that conventional vascularised nerve grafts appear to provide more effective regeneration compared to the non-vascularised ones. However, this is associated with donor site morbidity as well as availability which can be overcome by tissue-engineered nerve constructs. Blood vessels have also been shown to guide Schwann cells migration to form cords across the nerve bridge and thus helps promote axonal regeneration. Therefore, prefabricated vascularized nerve constructs could aid regeneration by supporting Schwann cell migration as well as improving vascularization.  This project aims to develop a therapeutic tissue-engineered construct consisting of collagen hydrogels repopulated with aligned human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) for artificial nerve conduit. In addition, how HUVECs might be added to current approaches that use Schwann cells will be investigated in order to examine whether regeneration is improved.

Funding source: Thailand government scholarship