Plug and play: an innovative bio-artificial artery for vascular reconstruction

动脉阻塞会导致危及生命的事件，包括心脏病发作和截肢。最好的治疗方法是从病人身体的另一部分取出健康的血管来替换病变的动脉。然而，许多患者没有合适的血管。人造血管移植（本质上是塑料管）可以用来替代大动脉，比如主动脉，但在心脏和腿部的小动脉替代方面还没有被证明是非常成功的。一个潜在的解决方案是使用人类细胞来构建生物人造动脉。然而，目前可用的生物人造动脉都没有天然动脉那么持久。该应用结合了血管生物学和生物工程方面的专业知识，开发了一种模拟天然动脉的生物人工动脉。TEBV仅由人类细胞和血管基质蛋白组成，不含合成材料，特别有利于愈合能力差的老年患者和需要血管植入物与身体一起生长的幼儿。生物人工动脉的成功开发有望为危及生命的血管疾病提供一种潜在的新疗法。

Blockage of arteries leads to life threatening events, including heart attack and leg amputation. The best treatment is to replace the diseased artery with a healthy blood vessel taken from another part of the patient. However, many patients do not have suitable blood vessels. Prosthetic vascular grafts (essentially plastic tubes) can be used to replace big arteries, such as the aorta, but have not proved very successful as a substitute for smaller arteries in the heart and legs. A potential solution is to use human cells to build a bio-artificial artery. However, none of the currently available bio-artificial arteries are as durable as natural arteries. This application combines expertise in vascular biology and bioengineering to develop a bio-artificial artery that mimics the natural artery. Comprising only human cells and vascular matrix proteins, but no synthetic materials, the proposed TEBV will particularly benefit elder patients with poor healing capability and young children who require vascular implants to growth with the body. Successful development of a bio-artificial artery promises a potential new treatment for life-threating vascular diseases.