A novel strategy for creating a large amount of engineered fat tissue with an axial vascular pedicle and a prefabricated scaffold

Abstract

In plastic and reconstructive surgery, there is a tremendous clinical need for adequate implants are needed to restore soft-tissue defects resulting from tumor resection, traumatic injury, or congenital anomalies. Restoring the aesthetic function of the soft tissue is as important as restoring the natural tissue function. To address aesthetic issues, injection of hyaluronic acid and collagen and use of artificially synthesized biomaterials and autologous fat tissue grafts is extensive in the clinic, still faces limitations. Achieving minimal morbidity while compensating contour irregularities remains a major challenge because the available reconstruction methods and unsatisfactory biomaterials. Adipose tissue engineering holds great promise for reconstruction, but so far, there was no reports of large-volume engineered adipose tissue. Construction of a large volume of vascularized engineered fat tissue may overcome clinical challenges because vascularization is essential for the survival of engineered fat tissue and its integration with the host tissue. An arteriovenous bundle model for soft tissue has been used in prefabricating a large volume fat tissue with axial vascularization in vivo. Therefore, we hypothesized that combining adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASCs), and prefabricated vascularized collagen scaffolds, with perforated chamber and arteriovenous bundle, could generate a large volume of engineered fat tissue with an axial vascular pedicle in vivo. Like vascularized autologous tissue, the new constructs could be transferred to the defective site by local transference or microsurgical techniques. The novel strategy could provide a large volume of engineered fat tissue suitable for clinical application and new therapeutic strategies for reconstructing defects if the hypothesis proved to be practical.