Rayner Samuel G, Zheng Ying
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Campus Box 356522, Seattle, WA 98195 e-mail:
Department of Bioengineering, University of Washington, 3720 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105;Center for Cardiovascular Biology, Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98109 e-mail:
J Biomech Eng. 2016 Nov 1;138(11):1108011-11080111. doi: 10.1115/1.4034428.
The microvasculature is an extensive, heterogeneous, and complex system that plays a critical role in human physiology and disease. It nourishes almost all living human cells and maintains a local microenvironment that is vital for tissue and organ function. Operating under a state of continuous flow, with an intricate architecture despite its small caliber, and subject to a multitude of biophysical and biochemical stimuli, the microvasculature can be a complex subject to study in the laboratory setting. Engineered microvessels provide an ideal platform that recapitulates essential elements of in vivo physiology and allows study of the microvasculature in a precise and reproducible way. Here, we review relevant structural and functional vascular biology, discuss different methods to engineer microvessels, and explore the applications of this exciting tool for the study of human disease.
微血管系统是一个广泛、异质性且复杂的系统,在人体生理和疾病中起着关键作用。它滋养着几乎所有活的人体细胞,并维持对组织和器官功能至关重要的局部微环境。微血管系统在持续流动状态下运行,尽管管径小但结构复杂,且受到多种生物物理和生化刺激,在实验室环境中可能是一个复杂的研究对象。工程化微血管提供了一个理想的平台,概括了体内生理学的基本要素,并允许以精确且可重复的方式研究微血管系统。在此,我们综述相关的血管结构和功能生物学,讨论工程化微血管的不同方法,并探索这一令人兴奋的工具在人类疾病研究中的应用。