ABSTRACT
Methods to engineer vascularized tissues have historically focused on chemical and/or biological strategies (Lovett et al. 2009). For instance, loading of scaffolds with vascular growth factors, functionalization of scaffolds with bioactive peptides, or incorporation of extracellular matrix (ECM) components into scaffolds can induce angiogenesis and vasculogenesis, the natural processes of vascular formation and growth that occur during development and wound healing [reviewed in (Bouhadir and Mooney 2001, Vailhé et al. 2001, Kaully et al. 2009)]. Likewise, cultures of differentiated vascular cells, mesenchymal stem cells, and/or blood-borne progenitor cells can reorganize to form long-lived vascular networks (Asahara et al. 1997, Koike et al. 2004, Au et al. 2008).
