Double-Chamber Rotating Bioreactor for Dynamic Perfusion Cell Seeding of Large-Segment Tracheal Allografts: Comparison to Conventional Static Methods

Tracheal transplantation with a long-segment recellularized tracheal allograft has previously been performed without the need for immunosuppressive therapy. Recipients' mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) and tracheal epithelial cells (TEC) were harvested, cultured, expanded, and seeded on a donor trachea within a bioreactor. Prior techniques used for cellular seeding have involved only static-seeding methods. Here, we describe a novel bioreactor for recellularization of long-segment tracheae. Tracheae were recellularized with epithelial cells on the luminal surface and bone marrow-derived MSC on the external surface. We used dynamic perfusion seeding for both cell types and demonstrate an increase in both cellular counts and homogeneity scores compared with traditional methods. Despite these improvements, orthotopic transplantation of these scaffolds revealed no labeled cells at postoperative day 3 and lack of re-epithelialization within the first 2 weeks. The animals in this study had postoperative respiratory distress and tracheal collapse that was incompatible with life.