Novel blood vessel replacement developed by Tranquillo Lab one step closer to human trials
November 1, 2017 — A team of researchers led by Professor Bob Tranquillo has created a new lab-grown blood vessel replacement that is composed completely of biological materials, but surprisingly doesn’t contain any living cells at implantation. The vessel, that could be used as an “off the shelf” graft for kidney dialysis patients, performed well in a recent study with nonhuman primates.
It is the first-of-its-kind nonsynthetic, decellularized graft that becomes repopulated with cells by the recipient’s own cells when implanted. The discovery could help tens of thousands of kidney dialysis patients each year. The grafts could also be adapted in the future for use as coronary and peripheral bypass blood vessels and tubular heart valves.
The study, “A Completely Biological Off-the-Shelf Arteriovenous Graft that Recellularizes in Baboons,” was published today as the cover story in Science Translational Medicine, an interdisciplinary medical journal by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).