De novo lung biofabrication: clinical need, construction methods, and design strategy.

De novo lung biofabrication: clinical need, construction methods, and design strategy. Transl Res. 2019 Apr 29;: Authors: Comber EM, Palchesko RN, Ng WH, Ren X, Cook KE Abstract Chronic lung disease is the 4th leading cause of death in the United States. Due to a shortage of donor lungs, alternative approaches to support failing, native lungs have been attempted, including mechanical ventilation and various forms of artificial lungs. However, each of these support methods causes significant complications when used for longer than a few days and are thus not capable of long-term support. For artificial lungs, complications arise due to interactions between the artificial materials of the device and the blood of the recipient. A potential new approach is the fabrication of lungs from biological materials, such that the gas exchange membranes provide a more biomimetic blood-contacting interface. Recent advancements with three-dimensional, soft-tissue biofabrication methods and the engineering of thin, basement membranes demonstrate the potential of fabricating a lung scaffold from extracellular matrix materials. This scaffold could then be seeded with endothelial and epithelial cells, matured within a bioreactor, and transplanted. In theory, this fully biological lung could provide improved, long-term biocompatibility relative to artificial lungs, but significant work is needed to perfect the organ design and construction methods. Like ...
Source: Translational Research : the journal of laboratory and clinical medicine - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Transl Res Source Type: research