The CAM assay as a model to study the angiogenic potential of biomaterials

Meniscal lesions and intervertebral disc degeneration (IVD) are two of the most frequent orthopedic lesions with a deleterious effect on patient’s life quality. There are clinical solutions for these pathologies, but they are ineffective in the long term and in restoring the biofunctionality of the native tissues. Therefore, the development of novel Tissue Engineering (TE) approaches that address the regeneration of these cartilaginous tissues is in great need. Vascularization is a critical factor in the regeneration of vascularized tissues ensuring the viability and function of tissue substitutes. The objective of this work was to study the angiogenic response of three-dimensional silk (SF) and silk/elastin (SF/E) scaffolds and disc-shaped methacrylated gellan-gum (GG-MA) hydrogels for TE applications by using the chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. The CAM assay is a recurrent assay to study angiogenesis, being used in TE as an intermediated step between in vitro and in vivo models.