PI: Stephen Badylak
Title: 3D Bioprinted Human Trachea for Pediatric Patients
Description: The overall goal of this project is the development and preclinical testing of a tissue engineered trachea for use in pediatric patients. The natural growth of pediatric patients requires that an engineered tissue or organ vital to life must “grow” with the patient. The present project will design, develop, and test in preclinical models, a bioengineered trachea consisting of naturally occurring extracellular matrix (ECM), as a scaffold, that is custom manufactured by 3D printing (Feinberg Laboratory, Carnegie Mellon University). The combined expertise of the Badylak Laboratory, which will acquire and prepare the matrix materials, with the Feinberg Laboratory that has expertise in 3D printing, will produce engineered tracheas that will be tested in a rapidly growing porcine model at the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The project is milestone driven and consists of two years of development followed by three years of testing.
During the R21 phase of the project, first two years, the Badylak Laboratory will acquire porcine tracheal tissue, perform decellularization procedures, and provide the Feinberg Laboratory with decellularized tracheal cartilage rings, and a “pre-gel” form of the soft tissue harvested from the trachea.
The Badylak Laboratory will conduct in vitro cytocompatibility studies and evaluate the ability of respiratory epithelial cells to attach, survive, and proliferate on the luminal surface of the 3D engineered tracheas produced in the Feinberg Laboratory.
During the subsequent three years (R33 phase), the Badylak Laboratory will utilize engineered tracheas supplied by the Feinberg Laboratory to the surgical procedures using the pig model. The engineered tracheas will be implanted in the recipient pigs and survived for periods of time ranging from weeks to nine months. The Badylak Laboratory will be responsible for supplying raw materials to the Feinberg Laboratory for production of the engineered tracheas.
Source: CMU via NIH
Term: 3/1/2017-2/28/2019
Amount: $105,709