Building 3-D blood vessels to study blood clotting

Development of a human 3D tissue-engineered blood vessel model for the study of haemostasis

In this PhD studentship the researchers will grow human blood vessels in the laboratory from cells taken from human donors. They propose that the 3-D engineered blood vessels can be used to study the process of blood clotting. Platelets are cells that are essential for the blood to clot when there is an injury. But under normal circumstances platelets are switched off, in part by signals from the surrounding blood vessel wall, to prevent an abnormal clot forming inside a vessel, which can cause a heart attack or stroke. The researchers will develop the 3-D human blood vessel model to study how a blood clot is triggered under conditions likely to be found inside the human body. The system may also have the potential to be used to test new anti-clotting drugs in the laboratory.