We report here a mechanism to control endothelial sprouting in 3D collagen matrices, which mimics activation of the angiogenic switch.
Today, this is done by providing a synthetic porous scaffold, or matrix, which mimics the body's own extracellular matrix, onto which cells attach, multiply, migrate and function.
CD31pos/Pdnpos LECs were able to form tube-like structures in response to a matrix, which mimics the physical and functional properties of basement membrane (Supplemental data, figure S5).
Hydrogels are widely used as matrices for cell growth due to the their tuneable chemical and physical properties, which mimic the extracellular matrix of natural tissue.
Recently, acellular spinal cord (ASC) scaffolds which mimic native extracellular matrix (ECM) have been successfully prepared.
We previously showed that cartilage tissue can be engineered in vitro with porcine chondrocytes and gelatin/chondoitin-6-sulfate/hyaluronan tri-copolymer which mimic natural cartilage matrix for use as a scaffold.
The events of chondrocytes hypertrophy differentiation including matrix degradation, neo-vessels invasion from subchondral bone and matrix calcification have been observed in the progression of OA, which mimic the processes during skeletal development by endochondral ossification [ 3– 6].
Sub-micron and nano-scale fibrous scaffolds which mimic the topography of natural extracellular matrix (ECM) can be potential scaffold candidates for neural tissue engineering.
Planar supported membranes can be fabricated by deposition of lipid membranes either directly on solids, or on ultrathin (typical thickness of 10 100 nm) polymer supports, which mimic the generic role of extracellular matrix and glycocalix.
Nanofibers, which mimic collagen fibrils in the extracellular matrix (ECM), can be prepared from a host of natural and synthetic biomaterials and have multiple properties that may be beneficial to field of materials for medical applications.
