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BSP-10
(P)
AUTOLOGOUS TISSUE EXPANSION IN VIVO WITH A 3-D CONSTRUCT IN A
SINGLE SURGICAL PROCEDURE
Magdalena FOSSUM
1
, Said ZEIAI
2
, Clara CHAMORRO
3
, Jinxing HUO
4
, Valentine GESCHÉ
5
and Jöns HILBORN
6
1) Karolinska Institutet, Department of Women's and Children's Health; Department of Pediatric Surgery, Stockholm,
SWEDEN - 2) Karolinska Institutet, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Department of Pediatric Surgery,
Stockholm, SWEDEN - 3) Karolinska Institutet, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Stockholm, SWEDEN - 4)
Uppsala University, Department of Materials Chemistry-Angstrom Laboratory, Uppsala, SWEDEN - 5) Institut für
Textiltechnik der RWTH Aachen, Aachen, GERMANY - 6) Uppsala University, Department of Chemistry - Ångström
Laboratory, Polymer Chemistry, Uppsala, SWEDEN
PURPOSE
Cultured autologous cells can be transplanted as a method to restore tissue. Drawbacks include the demand of in-house
cell culture facilities, high costs and laborious procedures that limits its use in ordinary surgical units. In vivo expansion
of tissue can be an alternative solution by the means of using our own body as a bioreactor. The aim of this study was
to evaluate a 3-dimensional scaffold with high tensile strength in vivo and assess the possibility of expanding autologous
epithelium in one single surgical procedure.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Plastic compression of two slabs of collagen type I gels including a core of polycaprolactone (PCL) knitted fabric was
carried out by a technique previously described. Minced skin was placed on top of the scaffold. The final construct was
placed subcutaneously in a rat model. Constructs were analysed up to 4 weeks after transplantation in respect to
morphology, histology and mechanical properties.
RESULTS
We showed successful keratinocyte proliferation on top of the scaffold in vivo. A microscopic inflammatory response was
only seen in 1 out of 48 samples. All samples where integrated in the surrounding tissue with capillary formation within
the construct. The construct kept its integrity and had a high tensile strength during the study period.
CONCLUSIONS
By adding minced tissue to a collagen gel including a PCL-knitted fabric, cell expansion and re-organization of epithelium
could take place without the need for conventional in vitro cell culturing. The method is simple and could be used as a
one-staged procedure in an ordinary surgical unit for tissue expansion and could be implemented for bladder
augmentation.