Modified collagen fleece, a scaffold for transplantation of human bladder smooth muscle cells.

Several congenital and acquired diseases of the human genito-urinary tract may need, due to lack or destruction of functional tissues, mechanically stable biomaterials as cell carriers for the engineering of these tissues. When using collagen scaffolds, both their capacity to induce tissue regeneration and their biocompatibility are advantageous characteristics to render them apt for tissue engineering. The attachment of extracellular matrix or serum proteins to their surfaces does further improve these characteristics, mimicking a close to natural cell environment.

Polyesterurethane foam scaffold for smooth muscle cell tissue engineering.

Reconstruction of the genitourinary tract, using engineered urological tissues, requires a mechanically stable biodegradable and biocompatible scaffold and cultured cells. Such engineered autologous tissue would have many clinical implications. In this study a highly porous biodegradable polyesterurethane-foam, DegraPol was evaluated with tissue engineered human primary bladder smooth muscle cells.

In vitro growth of human urinary tract smooth muscle cells on laminin and collagen type I-coated membranes under static and dynamic conditions.

This study investigates in vitro growth of human urinary tract smooth muscle cells under static conditions and mechanical stimulation. The cells were cultured on collagen type I- and laminin-coated silicon membranes. Using a Flexcell device for mechanical stimulation, a cyclic strain of 0-20% was applied in a strain-stress-time model (stretch, 104 min relaxation, 15 s), imitating physiological bladder filling and voiding.

Acrylic acid grafting and collagen immobilization on poly(ethylene terephthalate) surfaces for adherence and growth of human bladder smooth muscle cells.

In tissue engineering, degradable or non-degradable polymer matrices can act as cell-carrier-scaffolds. Cell adhesion and growth on these scaffolds can be promoted by immobilizing extracellular matrix proteins. Therefore, in this study, polymer poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films were surface modified by graft polymerization of acrylic acid, to subsequently allow collagen (types I and III) immobilization and human smooth muscle cell expansion.