3D Tissue Engineering / Vaskularisation
Group leader: Prof. Dr. med. Arndt Schilling, Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Lehmann, Dr. Kai Böker
Members: Samuel Siegk, Joachim Wagner, Zhiming Zhao, Xhiaobin Shang, Michel Remling
3D cell cultures with hydrogels are often used for tissue engineering. The largest possible size of these hydrogel constructs is limited to the scope of diffusion of nutrients, O2, and cellular waste. In this project we introduce a hydrogel model with embedded vascular networks, which enables the production of larger hydrogels. In the near future it will be possible to design and create whole organ structures, and this is one of the main research foci of this project. Another area of focus of this project is the reduction of animal experiments. With these bioreactors we intend to create in vivo tissue to carry out pharmacological tests and health research, which would not be possible with standard 2D cell cultures.