In a publication in Tissue Engineering, Oncofertility Consortium researchers identified new methods that may be utilized to increase the success of ovarian transplantation after cryopreservation. When ovarian tissue is transplanted back into a woman who preserved her fertility, revascularization of the tissue takes some time, during which many ovarian follicles are lost due to lack of oxygen and glucose. The authors, Shikanov, Zhang, Xu, Smith, Rajan, Woodruff, and Shea found that encapsulating thawed pieces of ovarian tissue in a fibrin matrix with heparin-binding peptide (HBP), heparin, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) resulted in increased visualization and primordial follicle survival than controls. The results of the publication, “Fibrin encapsulation and vascular endothelial growth factor delivery promotes ovarian graft survival in mice,” suggest that similar techniques may be applied in the clinical setting to increase survival of ovarian follicles after tissue transplantation.
