Erschienen:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2016
Erschienen in:
Scientific Reports, 6 (2016) 1
Sprache:
Englisch
DOI:
10.1038/srep28030
ISSN:
2045-2322
Entstehung:
Anmerkungen:
Beschreibung:
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Adipose tissue engineering offers a promising alternative to current breast reconstruction options. However, the conventional approach of using a scaffold in combination with adipose-derived precursor cells poses several problems in terms of scalability and hence clinical feasibility. Following the body-as-a-bioreactor approach, this study proposes a unique concept of delayed fat injection into an additive biomanufactured and custom-made scaffold. Three study groups were evaluated: Empty scaffold, Scaffold containing 4 cm<jats:sup>3</jats:sup> lipoaspirate and Empty scaffold +2-week prevascularisation period. In group 3, of prevascularisation, 4 cm<jats:sup>3</jats:sup> of lipoaspirate was injected into scaffolds after 2 weeks. Using a well-characterised additive biomanufacturing technology platform, patient-specific scaffolds made of medical-grade-polycaprolactone were designed and fabricated. Scaffolds were implanted in subglandular pockets in immunocompetent minipigs (n = 4) for 24-weeks. Angiogenesis and adipose tissue regeneration were observed in all constructs. Histological evaluation showed that the prevascularisation + lipoaspirate group had the highest relative area of adipose tissue (47.32% ± 4.12) which was significantly higher than both lipoaspirate-only (39.67% ± 2.04) and empty control group (8.31% ± 8.94) and similar to native breast tissue (44.97% ± 14.12). This large preclinical animal study provides proof-of-principle that the clinically applicable prevascularisation and delayed fat-injection techniques can be used for regeneration of large volumes of adipose tissue.</jats:p>