DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF BIODEGRADABLE POLYMER DEVICES TO ENGINEER TUBULAR TISSUES

Engineering new tissues by transplanting cells on polymeric delivery d evices is one approach to alleviate the vast shortage of donor tissue. However, it will be necessary to fabricate cell delivery devices that deliver cells to a given location and promote the formation of specif ic tissue structures from the transplanted cells and the host tissue. This report describes the design and fabrication of a polymeric device for guiding the development of tubular vascularized tissues, which ma y be useful for engineering a variety of tissues including intestine, blood vessels, tracheas, and ureters. Porous films of poly (D,L-lactic -co-glycolic acid) have been formed and fabricated into tubes capable of resisting compressional forces in vitro and in vivo. These devices promote the ingrowth of fibrovascular tissue following implantation in to recipient animals, resulting in a vascularized, tubular tissue. To investigate the utility of these devices as cell delivery devices, ent erocytes (intestinal epithelial cells) were seeded onto the devices in vitro. Enterocytes were found to attach to these devices and-form an organized epithelial cell layer. These results suggest that these devi ces may be an appropriate delivery vehicle for transplanting cells and engineering new tubular tissues.