3D engineering of diseased blood vessels for integrative in vitro–in silico mechanobiology study

Abstract Vascular diseases are complex conditions orchestrated by multiple factors, including cellular components, biochemical stimuli, and mechanical forces. Despite the advancement of numerous therapeutic approaches, the global mortality associated with the diseases continues to escalate owing to a lack of understanding of the underlying pathologies. Tissue engineering and computational strategies have been recently developed to investigate diseased blood vessels from multifactorial perspective, enabling more accurate prediction of disease progression and opening new avenues for preclinical advances. This review focuses on in vitro and in silico blood vessel models to elucidate the pathomechanisms of vascular diseases. Following a discussion of biofabrication and computational modeling strategies, the recent research that utilizes the models of various blood vessel diseases, such as atherosclerosis, aneurysms, varicose veins, and thrombosis, are introduced. Finally, current breakthroughs, existing challenges, and outlooks in the field are described.