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，包括心脏病发作和腿部截肢。最好的治疗方法是用取自患者另一部分的健康血管替换患病的动脉。然而，许多患者没有合适的血管。人造血管移植物（基本上是塑料管）可以用来取代大动脉，如主动脉，但作为心脏和腿部较小动脉的替代品并不成功。一个潜在的解决方案是使用人类细胞来构建生物人工动脉。然而，目前可用的生物人工动脉都不如天然动脉耐用。该应用程序结合了血管生物学和生物工程方面的专业知识，以开发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，而不含合成材料，因此将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为危及生命的血管疾病提供了一种潜在的新治疗方法。

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.