Reconstitution of A Blood Vessel In Culture

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The objective of this project is to develop a further understanding of the biology of the vascular wall so as to provide guidance for the development of tissue-engineered vascular grafts for the bypass and replacement of diseased vessels. This will be done by reconstituting a blood vessel in a laminar pulstile flow system. A key question to be answered is whether cell-cell interactions, i.e. between endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells, are required to create a blood vessel with functional integrity, particularly in regard to its endothelium. The significance of this project is in its representing a further engineering of the in vitro environment so as to make it more physiologic, and in its contributing to our understanding of those factors necessary to achieve a normally functioning blood vessel. This is important whether it be for vascular biology studies in cell culture or for the development of vascular prostheses, either hybrid grafts or living blood vessel equivalents.