Engineering vascular tissue with functional smooth muscle cells derived from human iPS cells and nanofibrous scaffolds

Tissue-engineered blood vessels (TEBVs) are promising in the replacement of diseased vascular tissues. However, it remains a great challenge to obtain a sufficient number of functional smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in a clinical setting to construct patient-specific TEBVs. In addition, it is critical to develop a scaffold to accommodate these cells and retain their functional phenotype for the regeneration of TEBVs. In this study, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were established from primary human aortic fibroblasts, and characterized with the pluripotency markers expression and cells' capabilities to differentiate into all three germ layer cells. A highly efficient method was then developed to induce these human iPSCs into proliferative SMCs. After multiple times of expansion, the expanded SMCs retained the potential to be induced into the functional contractile phenotype of mature SMCs, which was characterized by the contractile response to carbachol treatment, up-regulation of specific collagen genes under transforming growth factor β1 treatment, and up-regulation of specific matrix metalloproteinase genes under cytokine stimulation. We also developed an advanced macroporous and nanofibrous (NF) poly(l-lactic acid) (PLLA) scaffold with suitable pore size and interpore connectivity to seed these human iPSC-derived SMCs and maintain their differentiated phenotype. Subcutaneous implantation of the SMC-scaffold construct in nude mice demonstrated vascular tissue formation, with robust collagenous matrix deposition inside the scaffold and the maintenance of differentiated SMC phenotype. Taken together, this study established an exciting approach towards the construction of patient-specific TEBVs. We established patient-specific human iPSCs, derived proliferative SMCs for expansion, turned on their mature contractile SMC phenotype, and developed an advanced scaffold for these cells to regenerate vascular tissue in vivo.