Plant Based Decellularization

About

In today’s tissue engineering field, a major problem faced in translating tissue engineered grafts to the clinic is the lack of a viable oxygen supply. To solve this problem, a new technology has been developed by researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute that utilizes the decellularization of plants and their innate vasculature. By using plant vasculature, researchers are able to create a sustainable and ecofriendly scaffold that is prevascularized. Plant vasculature is incredibly similar to the vasculature of the human cardiovascular system. This new technology is a prevascularized scaffold for tissue engineering researchers that can be considered a “blank” scaffold. With the “blank” prevascularized scaffold, researchers could provide appropriate transportation of oxygen in order to generate larger massed tissue engineered grafts. This work should help accelerated clinical translation of tissue engineered grafts. Key Features “Blank” prevascularized scaffold Sustainable Ecofriendly