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29
th
CONGRESS OF THE ESPU
15:50–15:53
S3-6 (PP)
GEL CASTING AS AN APPROACH FOR TISSUE
ENGINEERING OF MULTILAYERED TUBULAR
STRUCTURES: APPLICATION FOR URETHRAL
RECONSTRUCTION
Melissa VAN VELTHOVEN
1
, Rana RAMADAN
1
, Barbara KLOTZ
2
, Debby GAWLITTA
2
,
Miguel CASTILHO
3
, Jos MALDA
3
, Pedro COSTA
3
, Laetitia DE KORT
1
and
Petra DE GRAAF
1
1) UMC Utrecht, Urology, Utrecht, NETHERLANDS - 2) UMC Utrecht, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Utrecht,
NETHERLANDS - 3) UMC Utrecht, Orthopedics, Utrecht, NETHERLANDS
PURPOSE
There is a lack of tissue-engineered solutions for replacement of urological tissues. Bottle necks
are vascularization and the complex tubular organization with different cell layers. As the corpus
spongiosum (CS) is an integral and functional part of the urethra, tissue engineering of the urethra
should be combined with the CS. The CS is a multilayered, highly vascularized structure with
distinct distribution of extracellular matrix components. Here we propose an innovative gel casting
approach to engineer three-layered tubular constructs.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
A mold with three chambers was designed and fabricated. The chambers were loaded with gelatin-
based hydrogels containing endothelial cells and pericytes (chamber 1 and 3 to form the inner and
outer layer) and smooth muscle cells (chamber 2 to form the middle layer). A fiber mesh was placed
at the base of the construct to serve as support for the gels and to roll the gel into a multilayered
tubular construct. Hydrogels were mechanically tested and compared to native tissue.
RESULTS
The gel could be casted and rolled into a multilayered construct. The encapsulated cells formed little
capillary-like structures (chamber 1 and 3) and produced elastin (chamber 2) within two weeks. The
compressive modulus of the gel was comparable to native tissue.
CONCLUSIONS
Our approach enables to engineer tubular constructs with distinct compositions in the different
layers. Cell survival and functionality up to two weeks has been achieved and the biomechanical
properties were similar to native tissue. This approach towards tissue engineering of multilayered
tubular structures may be applicable to the urological field as well as other fields of soft tissue
engineering.