Targeted Angiogenesis in a Three-Dimensional Scaffold.

描述（由申请人提供）：组织工程已经成为一个有前途的新兴研究领域，用于治疗各种生理状况，从骨科到心脏相关问题。充血性心力衰竭是美国发病率和死亡率的主要原因，并且在世界范围内呈上升趋势。心力衰竭的一个主要原因是心肌细胞的丧失和有限的再生。因此，心肌组织工程是恢复心脏功能的一个积极发展的研究领域。有几项研究已经证明了功能性心肌的成功工程。在这项研究中，我建议探索一种新的心脏组织体内工程方法-通过测试特定假设，使用自发血管化支架作为心脏组织形成的三维底物。具体来说，Aim 1将验证自组装肽凝胶促进体内内源性内皮细胞自发血管生成的假设。Aim 2将验证将生长因子靶向肽凝胶会加速内皮细胞分化和毛细血管形成的假设，从而提高移植心肌细胞的存活率。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tissue engineering has become a promising and emerging area of research to treat a variety of physiological conditions ranging from orthopedic-related to cardiac-related problems. Congestive heart failure is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States and is increasing throughout the world. A major cause of heart failure is the loss and limited regeneration of cardiomyocytes. Therefore, tissue engineering of myocardium is an actively developing area of research to restore cardiac function. There have been several studies that have demonstrated successful engineering of functional myocardium. In this study, I propose exploring a new approach for in vivo engineering of cardiac tissue - to use a spontaneous vascularizing scaffold as a 3-dimensional substrate for cardiac tissue formation through testing of specific hypotheses. Specifically, Aim 1 will test the hypothesis that a self-assembling peptide gel promotes spontaneous angiogenesis in vivo, by endogenous endothelial cells. Aim 2 will test the hypothesis that targeting growth factors to the peptide gel will accelerate endothelial cell differentiation and capillary formation, resulting in improved survival of implanted cardiomyocytes.