A Long-lived Avatar for Modeling Age-Related Vascular Disease [scRNAseq]

Prolonged culture frequently leads to cellular senescence and loss of functional integrity, resulting in variability and inconsistency in modeling chronic vascular responses. Here the aim of this study was to develop and sustain a long-term multicellular human vascular avatar, addressing the critical need for long-term disease modeling and drug testing.

Guided by quantitative morphological analyses and bulk RNAseq profiling, a novel optimized culture media containing factors that enhance the long-term health of vascular cells was generated. Subsequently, a human vascular avatar with a three-dimensional extracellular matrix environment and 3D vascular architecture for over 180 days using an organ-on-chip (Vessel-Chip) model was engineered, maintained and characterized.