ROS-Responsive Scaffold for Angiogenic Differentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells

Vascularization of a tissue-engineered construct enables efficient transport of nutrients and waste products; it is necessary for successful long-term tissue growth and host integration. Although significant progress has been made, sufficient vascularization of engineered constructs is still a major challenge, limiting clinical applications of tissue engineering (TE) approaches [1]. Successful vascularization promotes the interactions of TE implants with host tissues, leading to efficient tissue regeneration. Therefore, there is an unmet need to develop a more efficient method to vascularize TE constructs. In particular, obtaining a reliable source of endothelial cells (ECs) that line all blood vessels is a critical and challenging step towards successful vascularization of TE constructs, empowering TE to be applied in a larger scale and scope.