PhD Student School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China (People's Republic)
Abstract: The development of physiologically relevant vascularized tissue models remains a critical challenge in human vascular research and regenerative medicine. Here, we report a novel approach combining 3D bioprinting technology with GelMA-based hydrogel to generate stable blood vessel organoids (BVOs) from human pluripotent stem cell-derived early endothelial cells (hPSC-ECs) and smooth muscle cells (hPSC-SMCs). Single-cell transcriptomic analysis indicated that the enhanced maturation of ECs and SMCs in the BVOs is likely facilitated by complex cell-cell interactions, augmented mechanical support, increased tension, and hypoxic conditions within the 3D bioprinted structure, resulting in the development of a more robust and stable vascular network. When transplanted into a murine hindlimb ischemia model, these BVOs demonstrated robust integration with host vasculature, significantly improving blood perfusion and promoting vascular reconstruction in the ischemic tissue. Our work establishes a scalable and automatable platform for generating transplantable BVOs, highlighting their therapeutic potential for ischemic disease treatment.
Funding Source: This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China Grants 2022YFA1103103 and 2023YFA1800302 and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Grants 32270784 and 31970819 to Jie Na.
