ABSTRACTInduction of angiogenesis is necessary for the success of engineered implantable tissues in order to meet oxygen and nutrient requirements of cells during tissue repair. Insufficient vascularization in bone graft reconstruction may impede healing and initiate hypoxic cell death at the interior of the implant. As a result, endogenous growth factors have been studied to enhance angiogenesis during wound repair. However, these peptide-based molecules are highly sensitive to processing that occurs during scaffold biomaterial fabrication and treatment for tissue engineering purposes. We report here the development of new small molecule regulators of angiogenesis that may circumvent the impediments associated with protein-based growth factor delivery. In this study, we report the design and evaluation of SC–3–143 as a regulator of endothelial function. We show that the compound significantly increases the formation of microvascular networks in vitro, and selectively enhances endothelial survivability by reducing endothelial cell death under serum deprived culture conditions.
