Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Traditional bladder tissue engineering scaffold materials have no vascular structures, and insufficient vascularization is the problem after implantation in vivo.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the biocompatibility of bladder extracellular matrix with endothelial progenitor cells of rabbits.
METHODS: Rabbit’s endothelial progenitor cells were isolated and cultured. The endothelial progenitor cells combined with the bladder extracellular matrix were cultured and seeded in vitro. The histocompatibility of the complex was evaluated after implantation into the rabbit back.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Endothelial progenitor cells were able to adhere, grow, and proliferate on the bladder extracellular matrix surface, showing a good cell shape. At 1 week after the endothelial progenitor cells combined with the bladder extracellular matrix were implanted in rabbits, the distinctive inflammatory reaction around the material could be seen, with severe adhesion and mass bleeding. The hematoxylin-eosin staining showed many inflammatory cells infiltrating tissues, collagen and loose arrangement of elastic fibers. After 8 weeks, the implanted materials had been degraded to be broken filaments, fused with the surrounding tissue, with crisp texture and easy bleeding; the hematoxylin-eosin staining showed no obvious tissue infiltration of inflammatory cells in response, closely arranged collagen and elastic fibers and neovasculature could be seen in the materials. The results indicate that the endothelial progenitor cells have a good compatibility with the bladder extracellular matrix, and the complex has a good compatibility with body tissues.