In vitro construction of a human blood vessel from cultured vascular cells: A orphologic study

The blood vessel equivalent was constructed with the three following human cell types: vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, and fibroblasts. A tissuelike structure was obtained from the contraction of a tubular collagen gel (human origin)by vascular smooth muscle cells, which created a media-like structure. An adventia-like tissue was added around the media-like structure by embedding fibroblasts into a collagen gel. An endothelium was established within the tubular structure after intrahuninal cell seeding. Resdts: CelJ orientation and gel contraction were followed up over time. Vascular smooth muscle cells developed a complex tridhnensional network and were oriented in a circular fashion around the tube's axis. In contrast, fibroblasts were randomly oriented. A viable, homogeneous, and well-characterized endothelium was observed. These endothelial cells showed a slightly elongated structure and were oriented parallel to this vascular equivalent axis.