Exogenous control of vascular network formation in vitro: a mathematical model

Abstract

The reconstitution of a proper and functional vascular network is a major issue in tissue engineering and regeneration.The limited success of current technologies may be related to the difficulties to build a vascular tree with correctgeometric ratios for nutrient delivery.The present paper develops a mathematical model suggesting how an anisotropicvascular network can be built in vitro by using exogenous chemoattractant and chemorepellent.The formation of the network is strongly related to the nonlinear characteristics of the model.