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Ann Thorac Surg 2002;74:46-52
© 2002 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Original article: cardiovascular

Living, autologous pulmonary artery conduits tissue engineered from human umbilical cord cells

^a Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland
^c German Heart Center Berlin, Berlin, Germany
^d Department of Biomechanics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland

* Reprint requests to Dr Hoerstrup, Clinic for Cardiovascular Surgery, University Hospital Zurich, Raemistrasse 100, CH 8091 Zurich, Switzerland
e-mail: simon_philipp.hoerstrup{at}chi.usz.ch

Presented at the Thirty-eighth Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Jan 28–30, 2002.

	Abstract

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

 
Background. Tissue engineering represents a promising approach to in vitro creation of living, autologous replacements with the potential to grow, repair, and remodel. Particularly in a congenital operation, there is a substantial need for such implantation materials. We previously demonstrated fabrication of completely autologous, functional heart valves on the basis of peripheral vascular cells. Presently the feasibility of creating pulmonary artery conduits from human umbilical cord cells was investigated.

Methods. Human umbilical cord cells were harvested and expanded in culture. Pulmonary conduits fabricated from rapidly bioabsorbable polymers were seeded with human umbilical cord cells and grown in vitro in a pulse duplicator bioreactor. Morphologic characterization of the generated neo-tissues included histology, transmission, and scanning electron microscopy. Characterization of extracellular matrix was comprised of immunohistochemistry. Extracellular matrix protein content and cell proliferation were quantified by biochemical assays. Biomechanical testing was performed using stress-strain and burst-stress tests.

Results. Histology of the conduits revealed viable, layered tissue and extracellular matrix formation with glycosaminoglycans and collagens I and III. Cells stained positive for vimentin and alpha-smooth muscle actin. Scanning electron microscopy showed confluent, homogenous tissue surfaces. Transmission electron microscopy demonstrated elements typical of viable myofibroblasts, such as collagen, fibrils, and elastin. Extracellular matrix proteins were significantly lower compared with native tissue; the cell content was increased. The mechanical strength of the pulsed constructs was comparable with native tissue; the static controls were significantly weaker.

Conclusions. In vitro fabrication of tissue-engineered human pulmonary conduits was feasible utilizing human umbilical cord cells and a biomimetic culture environment. Morphologic and mechanical features approximated human pulmonary artery. Human umbilical cord cells demonstrated excellent growth properties representing a new, readily available cell source for tissue engineering without necessitating the sacrifice of intact vascular donor structures.

	Introduction

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

 
Many congenital cardiac defects necessitate the use of vascular conduits (eg, as in surgical reconstruction of the right ventricle to pulmonary artery continuity). Children who undergo these types of operations with either prosthetic or homograft materials often require multiple reinterventions related to conduit failure [1]. All clinically available replacements basically represent nonliving, foreign materials with a limited long-term function. They lack the potential for growth and remodeling and are associated with an increased risk of thromboembolic and infectious complications. Stipulated by these shortcomings, the search for ideal replacement materials is still ongoing. The essential characteristics of such materials were described by Dwight E. Harken [2] in the 1950s as to ideal heart valves including durability, absence of thrombogenicity, resistance to infections, lack of antigenicity, and the potential for growth (ie, in principle, he described the fundamental characteristics of natural, autologous tissues). To meet these requirements tissue engineering represents a new experimental approach aimed at living, autologous replacement structures. Several groups, including our own, are pursuing a tissue-engineering concept in which tissue constructs are generated in vitro from autologous peripheral vascular cells by seeding onto bioabsorbable scaffolds. Some favorable results with this approach have been presented in experimental animals. Regarding large diameter vascular conduits, Shinoka and colleagues [3] described in vitro creation of viable pulmonary artery autografts with good functional performance in sheep. Shum-Tim and colleagues [4] demonstrated functional aortic vascular conduits on the basis of ovine carotid artery cells. Patch augmentation of pulmonary artery defects with cell seeded bioabsorbable polymer in the sheep model was also reported [5]. Although milestones were represented in this field, these studies were limited by a long persistence of the scaffold material in the circulation because of relatively slow-degrading polymer materials, and by the fact that the usage of peripheral vascular cell necessitated the sacrifice of intact vascular donor structures. In search for an alternative approach, especially with regard to a possible clinical realization, we investigated the feasibility to fabricate tissue-engineered pulmonary artery conduits on the basis of human umbilical cord cells. We used a pulse duplicator culture environment, which in previous studies has shown to accelerate tissue formation and maturation, therefore enabling the application of rapidly bioabsorbable scaffold materials [6, 7].

	Material and methods

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

 
Cell isolation and cultivation
Human umbilical cord sections were washed with Dulbecco’s phosphate buffered saline (DPBS; Gibco, Rockville, MD), minced into 1-mm pieces and distributed in Petri dishes (Gibco BRL, Rockville, MD). Tissue sections were cultured with Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s media (DMEM; Gibco) supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (HyClone, Logan, UT) and Gentamycin (Gibco). The cells were serially passaged and expanded in a humidified incubator at 37°C with 5% CO₂. Sufficient cell numbers for seeding of bioabsorbable pulmonary conduit polymer scaffolds were obtained after 3 to 4 weeks.

Bioabsorbable pulmonary conduit scaffolds
Nonwoven polyglycolic-acid mesh (PGA; thickness: 1.0 mm; specific gravity, 69 mg/cm³; Albany Int) was coated with a thin layer of poly-4-hydroxybutyrate (P4HB; molecular weight [MW], 1 x 10⁶; Tepha Inc, Cambridge, MA) by dipping into a tetrahydrofuran solution (1% wt/vol P4HB). Following solvent evaporation, a continuous coating and physical bonding of adjacent fibers was achieved. P4HB is a biologically derived, rapidly absorbable biopolymer that is strong, pliable, and thermoplastic (melting temperature [Tm] 61°C) so it can be molded into almost any shape. Complete biodegradation of the combined material occurs after 4 to 6 weeks. From the PGA and P4HB composite scaffold material, pulmonary artery conduit scaffolds (length, 40 mm; inner diameter, 18 mm; wall thickness, 1 mm) were fabricated using a heat application welding technique. The constructs were then cold-gas sterilized with ethylene oxide.

Cell seeding and in vitro culture
Human umbilical cord cells (4.5 to 5.5 x 10⁶ per cm²) were seeded onto the pulmonary conduit scaffolds and cultured in static nutrient media (DMEM, Gibco) for 7 days in a humidified incubator (37°C; 5% CO₂). Thereafter, the constructs (n = 5) were transferred into a pulse duplicator system ("bioreactor") and grown in vitro under gradually increasing nutrient media flow and pressure conditions for an additional 14 days. Controls (n = 5) were grown in static nutrient media accordingly. The media was changed every 4 days.

Analysis of human umbilical cord cells
Flow cytometry (fluorescence activated cell sorting)
Human umbilical cord cells (hUCC) (0.5 x 10⁶; single cell suspension) in 100 µL PBS plus fetal bovine serum were incubated with saturating concentrations of monoclonal antibodies CD 31-FITC (Clone LCI4 + 6 + 7; developed and provided by P. Kilshaw, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland), alpha-smooth muscle actin (AMSA) (Clone 1A4, Sigma, St. Louis), desmin (Clone D33, NeoMarkers, Fremont, CA), and vimentin (Clone V9, NeoMarkers). For intracellular staining, ASMA and desmin and vimentin cells were permeabilized with ethanol and incubated with monoclonal antibodies. Then staining with a secondary FITC-conjugated IgG goat-antimouse antibody (Chemicon, Temecula, CA) was performed. Forward and side scatters were set to exclude debris and 10,000 gated events were counted per sample. Corresponding irrelevant isotype-matched and positive controls were performed for each antibody. Cells were analyzed with the flow cytometer FACS-Calibur (Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems, San Jose, CA). Data analysis were performed with the Cell Quest software program (Becton Dickinson Immunocytometry Systems, San Jose, CA). Expression levels were calculated as mean fluorescence intensity ratio (MFIR) defined as mean fluorescence intensity of the studied antibodies divided by mean fluorescence intensity of corresponding isotype controls.

Histology and immunohistochemistry
Human umbilical cord cells were cultivated onto glass coverslips in nutrient medium (DMEM, Gibco) and fixed in methanol. Cells were examined histologically by hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome stain. Immunohistochemistry was performed by incubation with monoclonal mouse antibodies for ASMA (Sigma, St. Louis), vimentin (NeoMarkers, Fremont), and collagen I, III (Oncogen, Boston). Incubation with a secondary FITC-labeled goat-antimouse IgG antibody (Sima, St. Louis) to vimentin, an AlexaFluor 647-labeled goat-antimouse IgG antibody (Molecular Probes, Leiden, The Netherlands) to ASMA, and a biotin-labeled goat-antimouse IgG antibody (Sima, St. Louis, MS) to collagen I and III was performed. The biotin-labeled antibody signal was developed with the avidin-peroxidase system (ABC kit, Vector Lab, Burlingame CA). Before intracellular staining for ASMA and vimentin, permeabilization of the cells was performed by incubation with 0.1% Triton (Sigma, St. Louis).

Analysis of the tissue-engineered pulmonary conduits
Microstructure
Sections of the tissue-engineered conduits were fixed in 4% phosphate-buffered formalin and embedded in paraffin. Paraffin sections were cut at 5 µm thickness and studied by hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining. Immunohistochemistry was performed as described previously by incubation with monoclonal mouse antibodies for ASMA, vimentin, and collagens I and III.

Ultrastructure
Additional samples of each conduit were fixed in 2% glutaraldehyde (Sigma, St. Louis, MS) and studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.

Quantitative tissue analysis
As described previously, biochemical assays for total content of DNA [8], hydroxyproline, proteoglycan and glycosaminoglycan (BLYSCAN assay; Biocolor, Belfast, Ireland), and elastin (FASTIN assay; Biocolor) were performed and compared with native human tissue (pulmonary artery) [6].

Biomechanical analysis
Tissue-engineered constructs and human pulmonary artery tissues were analyzed for mechanical properties using a uniaxial Instron Tensile Tester (Model 4411, equipped with a 100 N load cell and pneumatic clamps; max. pressure, 75 psig). Tests were carried out using longitudinal matrix strips of 20-mm gauge length, 5-mm width, and 1-mm thickness. The crosshead speed was 0.5 inch per minute, which corresponds to a linear strain rate of 1 minute^-1. The Young’s modulus was obtained from the slope of the initial linear section of the stress-strain curve. Burst strength was measured by cannulation of the vascular constructs on a specifically designed system. They were pressurized with phosphate buffered saline (PBS, Gibco) and the hydrostatic pressure was increased by 5 mm Hg steps until vessel failure.

Statistics
Result data were expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean. We used SPSS 8.0 software for statistical analysis (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL). An unpaired t test (Student’s t test) was performed, considering a p value less than 0.05 as statistically significant.

	Results

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

 
After 14 days in vitro in the pulse duplicator system, gross appearance showed intact, pliable pulmonary artery conduits that were completely impermeable to fluid (Fig 1).

View larger version (69K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 1. Two views (A and B) of tissue engineered pulmonary artery conduit after 14 days conditioning in the pulse duplicator bioreactor (dimensions: length, 40 mm; inner diameter, 18 mm; wall thickness, 1 mm).

View larger version (82K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 2. (A) Hematoxylin-eosin and (B) Masson’s trichrome staining showed cells with a fibroblast morphology and deposition of extracellular matrix proteins. Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated expression of (C) vimentin and (D) alpha-smooth muscle actin.

Analysis of the tissue-engineered pulmonary conduits
Tissue microstructure
Hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining of representative sections of the conduit constructs demonstrated cellular tissue organized in a layered fashion and a homogenous formation of extracellular matrix predominantly comprised of glycosaminoglycans (Fig 3A). Immunohistochemistry showed positive staining for collagen types I (3C), III (3D), ASMA (3E), and vimentin (3F). Static controls showed a loose, less organized tissue formation with irregular cellular ingrowth (Fig 3B).

View larger version (115K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 3. (A) Hemotoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome staining of the conduit constructs demonstrates cellular tissue organized in a layered fashion and formation of extracellular matrix predominantly comprising glycosaminoglycans. (B) Static controls show a loose, less organized tissue formation with irregular cellular ingrowth. Immunohistochemistry shows positive staining for (C) collagen type I, (D) collagen type III, (E) alpha-smooth muscle actin, and (F) vimentin.

View larger version (218K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 4. (A) Scanning electron microscopy of the pulsed conduits showed dense tissue formation and a confluent smooth surface. (B) In contrast, static controls were less homogeneous. (C) Transmission electron microscopy revealed cell elements typical of secretionally active myofibroblasts such as collagen fibrils (asterisk) and elastin (white arrow).

View larger version (13K): [in this window] [in a new window]   Fig 5. Mechanical properties graphically displayed as a typical stress-strain curve of each of the investigated materials recorded at room temperature with a linear strain rate of 1 minute-1 of tissue-engineered (TE) pulmonary conduits (red), static controls (blue), and human pulmonary artery (Hum. PA) tissues (black).

	Comment

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

In this article we demonstrated the feasibility of tissue engineering of living pulmonary conduits on the basis of hUCC and a rapidly bioabsorbable scaffold material. In contrast to previously used materials, this scaffold offers the advantage of being thermoplastic, which allows the fabrication of three-dimensional constructs using a heat-welding technique. Moreover, this scaffold has a rapid biodegradation profile adequately matching the increasing matrix production of the neo-tissues. In tissue engineering, the bioabsorbable scaffolds are designed to serve as a template to guide tissue formation and to provide initial mechanical support until the developing autologous neo-matrix replaces their function. We further used a biomimetic in vitro environment to accelerate tissue formation and maturation. The mechanical stability of tissue-engineered constructs ultimately depends on fast in vitro generation of competent, native-analogous extracellular matrix, which is crucial to in vivo function later. In previous studies, based on peripheral vascular cells, we and others have shown that pulsatile flow in vitro conditioning enhanced autologous matrix formation, therefore allowing the use of more rapidly bioabsorbable scaffold materials [7, 16]. As a consequence, at the time of implantation, mechanically more appropriate, almost completely autologous replacements were achieved minimizing the issue of adverse foreign material body reactions [6].

In the present study we selected hUCC as an alternative cell source to overcome the potential clinical limitation of using peripheral vascular cells. Human umbilical cords are readily available and easy to obtain. By means of modern cell and tissue banking technologies, human umbilical cords may be used as individual cell pools for a patient’s lifetime. The hUCC applied in the present experiments represent mixed cell populations derived from the arterial and venous components of the umbilical cords, as well as the surrounding Wharton’s jelly. Previous investigations have shown that all three cell types exhibit myofibroblast-like characteristics [17], which was confirmed in our study by flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry. In culture, the hUCC demonstrated excellent growth properties and sufficient cell numbers for seeding of the conduit scaffolds that were obtained after 3 to 4 weeks. After seeding and in vitro conditioning in the pulse duplicator bioreactor system, good tissue formation was observed after an additional 3 weeks, which resulted in intact vascular conduits with pliable, impermeable vessel walls. Microstructural and ultrastructural analysis revealed viable, layered tissues showing cell and matrix features known from the native pulmonary artery. These included expression of ASMA, vimentin, and collagen types I and III, as well as elastin. However, the quantitative matrix analysis demonstrated significantly reduced contents of typical matrix components such as collagen and glycosaminoglycans compared with native tissue values. At the same time, the tissue cellularity was significantly increased, reflecting the state of an immature, proliferative tissue with beginning matrix formation (ie, an observation we have made also in previous studies based on peripheral vascular cells [6, 7]). A limitation to this study was that no endothelial cells were seeded on the developing conduit tissue. In vivo, an intact endothelium may be of crucial importance to the durability of the tissue-engineered constructs as well as to the absence of thrombus formation. However, in this first feasibility type of study, we focused on in vitro generation of mechanically competent neo-tissues and adequate extracellular matrix production.

Biomechanical analysis of the tissue-engineered pulmonary conduits showed tissue strength characteristics approximating those of human pulmonary artery, making these conduits theoretically ready for implantation. However, the elastic properties were different revealing a decreased pliability of the tissue-engineered constructs, which is in accordance with the matrix-content related observation that tissue formation is still in process, specifically regarding the production of elastin. It remains to be evaluated further in vitro and in vivo experiments whether this maturation will be sufficiently completed. Finally, this study demonstrated the favorable effect of a biomimetic in vitro environment on tissue formation and maturation. In comparison with the static controls, the "pulsed" pulmonary conduits showed significantly better mechanical profiles and tissue quality.

In conclusion, in vitro fabrication of tissue-engineered human pulmonary conduits was feasible using hUCC and a biomimetic-culture environment. The morphologic and mechanical features approximated the human pulmonary artery. The hUCC demonstrated excellent growth properties representing a new, readily available cell source for tissue engineering without necessitating the sacrifice of intact vascular donor structures. Based on these results, the next experimental efforts will be directed at in vitro generation of valved pulmonary artery conduits because of the greater clinical relevance of such replacements. Animal experiments will need to be undertaken to further evaluate this promising new concept.

	Acknowledgments

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

 
The authors wish to thank Manfred Welti and Jay Tracy, Laboratory for Tissue Engineering and Cell Transplantation, University Hospital Zurich, Switzerland, for their valuable work on cell culture and immunohistochemistry; and Klaus Marquard, Department of Surgical Research, University Hospital Zurich, for providing the scanning electron microscopy pictures. We further thank Dr David P. Martin, Tepha Inc, Cambridge, MA, for his support of the scaffold materials. Finally we are grateful to Annegret Bittermann and Oliver Hoechli, Electron Microscopy Laboratory, University Zurich, Switzerland, for performing the transmission electron microscopy and for their advice and technical assistance with the fluorescence microscopy imaging.

	Discussion

Top Abstract Introduction Material and methods Results Comment Acknowledgments Discussion References

 
DR John E. MAYER, JR (Boston, MA): I just wondered if you had any sense or information about the immunogenicity of the cells that are being grown from umbilical cord. I understand, as I’m sure you well remember, we have always thought that there would be an advantage to using autologous cells as opposed to something from a random donor or some bank of donors. And that still remains an important consideration. The autologous cell part, obviously, limits the commercial aspects of this. It’s going to be pretty hard to have some company doing all of this and shipping things back and forth. So this question of immunogenicity and whether or not there is anything particularly special about a human umbilical cord-derived conduit as opposed to something from other sources is an important consideration. So I wonder if you have any information about that?

DR HOERSTRUP: I absolutely agree with your comment that immunogenicity is a very important topic. And we still are following an autologous concept here. The idea is to take the cells from a baby’s umbilical cord at the time of birth and to have these cells as a cell source or as a cell bank for tissue engineering applications in their future life. There is information in the literature that umbilical cord cells might be less immunogenic than adult cells, but I wouldn’t claim that for these cell populations we have investigated here.

DR Marshall JACOBS (Philadelphia, PA): When we operate on babies’ hearts and close the incisions with polyglycolic acid suture, maybe 1 out of 10 kids comes back 2 weeks later spitting out a knot of Dexon or Vicryl suture that’s incompletely absorbed with an obvious inflammatory reaction around it at the cutaneous level. In the tissue-engineering process, is it the intent that the deposition of viable cells will create a barrier, or is it the intent that the scaffolding material will be gone by the time that these are useful as vascular implants in order to avoid the possible inflammatory response to that portion of the Biograft?

DR HOERSTRUP: There are several approaches in tissue engineering, some aiming at having completely autologous tissues at the time of implantation and some aiming at longer degrading scaffold materials which will persist in the organism for an extended period of time. We clearly are following the first concept aiming at acceleration of tissue formation already in vitro to such an extent that at the time of implantation ideally there is no artificial material left over. So far we didn’t completely achieve this goal, because it takes considerable time to have adequate mechanical function generated by the developing tissues. However, we are using a rapidly biodegradable material with the idea to have no foreign material or artificial surfaces involved in the organism after implantation.

DR Michael R. MILL (Chapel Hill, NC): It’s interesting that these valves do indeed appear to be as strong as the native valves, but also you’ve clearly shown them to be stiffer. What implications do you think that has on their use and longevity?

DR HOERSTRUP: I think the reduced pliability is just reflecting the immaturity of the tissue. Elastin, the main extracellular matrix component allowing for elasticity and pliability, was not very much expressed. In fact, the levels were so low that we were not able to quantify elastin in the biochemical assays. We only demonstrated it as a qualitative observation in the electron microscopy and the histology. So I think the more mature the tissue gets, the more it will have this elastic features appropriate for an adequate in vivo function.

	References

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