Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics Research Group

Book Chapter

Microfluidics for Angiogenesis Research

Abstract

Angiogenesis is a natural and vital phenomenon of neovascularization that occurs from pre-existing vasculature, being present in many physiological processes, namely in development, reproduction and regeneration. Being a highly dynamic and tightly regulated process, its abnormal expression can be on the basis of several pathologies. For that reason, angiogenesis has been a subject of major interest among the scientific community, being transverse to different areas and founding particular attention in tissue engineering and cancer research fields. Microfluidics has emerged as a powerful tool for modelling this phenomenon, thereby surpassing the limitations associated to conventional angiogenic models. Holding a tremendous flexibility in terms of experimental design towards a specific goal, microfluidic systems can offer an unlimited number of opportunities for investigating angiogenesis in many relevant scenarios, namely from its fundamental comprehension in normal physiological processes to the identification and testing of new therapeutic targets involved on pathological angiogenesis. Additionally, microvascular 3D in vitro models are now opening up new prospects in different fields, being used for investigating and establishing guidelines for the development of next generation of 3D functional vascularized grafts. The promising applications of this emerging technology in angiogenesis studies are herein overviewed, encompassing fundamental and applied research.

Journal
Biomaterials- and Microfluidics-Based Tissue Engineered 3D Models. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology
Volume
1230
Pagination
97-119
Publisher
Springer
URL
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-36588-2_7
Keywords
Angiogenesis, Endothelization, Microfluidics, Microvascular models, Sprouting, Tumour angiogenesis
Rights
Restricted Access
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Status
published
Project
B-FABULUS
Year of Publication
2020
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-36588-2_7
Date Published
2020-04-14
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