image: This is a schema for lung-tissue engineering. (A) Native adult rat lung is cannulated in the pulmonary artery and trachea for infusion of decellularization solutions. (B) Acellular lung matrix is devoid of cells after 2-3 hours of treatment (C) Acellular matrix is mounted inside a biomimetic bioreactor that allows seeding of vascular endothelium into pulmonary artery, and pulmonary epithelium into trachea. (D) After 4-8 days of culture, the engineered lung is removed from the bioreactor, and is suitable for implantation into syngeneic rat recipient (E). This image relates to an article that appeared in the June 24, 2010, issue of Science Express, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Thomas Petersen of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., and Duke University in Durham, N.C., and colleagues, is titled, "Tissue Engineered Lungs for In Vivo Implantation." view more
Credit: Image courtesy of <i>Science</i>/AAAS