A new air-shearing technique was designed for the high-throughput production of collagen modules and the assembly of large tissue constructs. >95% of cells embedded in air-sheared modules remained viable after production. Additionally, the module surface could be coated with a confluent monolayer of endothelial cells (ECs). Custom-designed bioreactors (volume > 1 cm3) were built to culture large volumes of modules and enable medium perfusion to the core of packed modular beds. In two separate experiments, this platform was applied to modules containing human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells and rat neonatal cardiomyocyte-enriched cells. In both cases, modules fused to form single porous viable tissues. The cardiac tissues were contractile, with a maximum capture rate and excitation threshold of 2.3 + 0.58 Hz and 5.9 + 2.10 V/cm respectively. Efforts were made, with varying success, to create EC-lined pores in tissues by surface seeding modules with ECs prior to loading in bioreactors.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/32637 |
| Date | 17 August 2012 |
| Creators | Voice, Derek |
| Contributors | Sefton, Michael |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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