Building Blood Vessels

Scientists recently developed a method for growing human blood vessels from stem cells in a laboratory setting. This game-changing technology will allow clinicians to more closely study the causes and treatments for a variety of vascular diseases. More importantly, these studies can be carried out directly on human tissue without involving human subjects.

Organoids – three-dimensional structures that can be grown from stem cells in a petri dish – mimic actual organs and are used to study various aspects of organ function in the lab. In this experiment, not only were the vascular organoids successfully cultivated, they were also able to be transplanted into mice, where they developed into fully functional arteries and capillaries. Since every organ in the body is linked to the circulatory system, the applications for study are vast; however, the initial research will be centered on diabetes.

Despite the fact that more than 400 million people suffer from diabetes worldwide, and the fact that many of the symptoms of diabetes are due to changes in blood vessels that impair circulation and reduce oxygenation of the tissues, little is known about the mechanisms responsible for these vascular changes. In this study, when the blood vessel organoids were exposed to a “diabetic” environment, they displayed thickening similar to that seen in diabetic patients. The researchers were subsequently able to determine that none of the currently used anti-diabetes medications had any positive effects on the vasculature, but that inhibiting a specific enzyme prevented the thickening of the blood vessel walls in mice. These new findings could lead to a better understanding of vascular disease as well as new treatments in the future.