Curvature-induced spontaneous detachment of vascular smooth muscle cell sheets: Towards vascular self assembly in microchannels

A new model is proposed which describes the spontaneous detachment of vascular smooth muscle cells induced by surface curvature. Growing tubular structures from smooth muscle cells (SMCs) in vitro is a key challenge in microvascular tissue engineering. SMC growth is however significantly suppressed on curved substrates. We show that this is caused by mechanical interaction between adhering cells and the surrounding geometry, which compromises the adhesion of growing tissue. Our model opens up new strategies for engineering luminal vasculature in microdevices, and gives new insights for controlling tissue formation in micro environments.