The Heart Center of the Affiliated Children's Medical Center has achieved breakthroughs in the research of cartilage needed for tissue engineering airway construction...

Recently, the international authoritative journal Advanced Science published online the latest research results of the team of Li Fen and Zhang Hao from the National Children’s Medical Center (Shanghai) and Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, "An avascular niche created by axitinib-loaded PCL /collagen nanofibrous membrane stabilized subcutaneous chondrogenesis of mesenchymal stromal cells (Axitinib-loaded PCL/collagen nanofiber membrane maintains the stability of cartilage tissue derived from mesenchymal stem cells in the subcutaneous environment by creating a non-vascularized microenvironment)"
.

Congenital tracheal stenosis is a rare airway obstructive disease, which is not uncommon in children with congenital heart disease (congenital heart disease), accounting for about 1.
5% of children with congenital heart disease
.

These children have early recurrent respiratory infections, respiratory distress, severe hypoxemia, etc.

However, tracheal cartilage is a kind of cartilage tissue in the subcutaneous environment.
Unlike the repair of articular cartilage defects, the repair of cartilage defects in the subcutaneous environment has always been an international problem.
When the cartilage tissue constructed by mesenchymal stem cells is implanted into the joint microenvironment, it is easy to form stable cartilage tissue, but when implanted into the subcutaneous microenvironment, it is easy to ossify or fibrosis and lose the phenotype and function of cartilage
.

The main reason is that the subcutaneous environment is rich in blood vessels, and the differentiated cartilage tissue is difficult to resist the invasion of blood vessels and then undergo ossification, but there is no good solution at present

To this end, Li Fen and Zhang Hao’s team from the Heart Center of the Affiliated Children’s Medical Center used electrospinning technology to design a collagen/PCL nanofiber membrane containing Axitinib, which can slowly and continuously release an anti-vascularization locally in the body.
The drug-Axitinib creates a non-vascularized microenvironment similar to the joint cavity when the cartilage tissue differentiated from stem cells is implanted under the skin and maintains the stability of the cartilage tissue phenotype
.

For the first time, researchers used materials science to modify the microenvironment in which cells live, and designed and prepared a new type of anti-vascularization nanofiber membrane through electrospinning technology, which can slowly and continuously release an anti-vascularization membrane locally in the body.

Axitinib is a new generation of anti-tumor drug marketed by internationally renowned pharmaceutical companies, which can selectively inhibit the activity of vascular endothelial growth factor receptors, thereby reducing angiogenesis
.

The nanofiber membrane prepared by electrospinning technology not only has a bionic structure similar to the natural extracellular matrix, but also has a high specific surface area and porosity, which can uniformly load Axitinib on the scaffold material and continue in the local environment.

This study provides new ideas for the surgical treatment of children with congenital heart disease and congenital long tracheal stenosis.