Neovascularization of synthetic membranes directed by membrane microarchitecture.

Transplantation of tissues enclosed within a membrane device designed to protect the cells from immune rejection (immunoisolation) provides an opportunity to treat a variety of disease conditions. Successful implementation of immunoisolation has been hampered by the foreign-body reaction to biomaterials. We screened a variety of commercially available membranes for foreign-body reactions following implantation under the skin of rats. Histologic analysis revealed that neovascularization at the membrane-tissue interface occurred in several membranes that had pore sizes large enough to allow complete penetration by host cells (0.8-8 microns pore size). When the vascularization of the membrane-tissue interface of 5-microns-pore-size polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes was compared to 0.02-microns-pore-size PTFE membranes, it was found that the larger pore membranes had 80-100-fold more vascular structures. The increased vascularization was observed even though the larger pore membrane was laminated to a smaller pore inner membrane to prevent cell entry into the prototype immunoisolation device. This significantly higher level of vascularization was maintained for 1 year in the subcutaneous site in rats.