Probing the Effect of Bioinspired Nanomaterials on Angiogenic Sprouting With a Microengineered Vascular System

High-density lipoproteins (HDL) are known to contribute to vascular homeostasis, but recent HDL-mimetic therapies attempting to capitalize on the vasculoprotective properties associated with HDL have been met with roadblocks in their translational journey to the clinic largely due to the complex role of HDL in vasculature. Among the adaptive processes seen in vasculature, angiogenesis is one process that is both crucial to vascular remodeling and is dependent on HDL to an unknown extent. Here we investigate the effect of HDL mimetic nanoparticles on the angiogenic process of sprouting using a microengineered three-dimensional vascular system. Our study reveals critical effects of HDL mimetic nanoparticles on angiogenesis: 1) exhibiting a bi-phasic effect on angiogenic sprout growth and 2) inhibiting TNF-α stimulated angiogenesis. This method demonstrates the feasibility of leveraging a microengineered physiological model to screen the effects of bioinspired nanoparticles as part of a foundational study for accelerating translational research through biomimetic technologies.