Endothelial implants restore vascular homeostasis after injury without reconstituting vascular architecture. Endothelial cells line the vascular epithelium and underlying vasa vasorum precluding distinction between cellular controls. Unlike blood vessels, the airway epithelium is highly differentiated and distinct from endothelial cells that line the bronchial vasa allowing investigation of the differential control tissue engineered cells may provide in airways and blood vessels. Through airway injury and cell culture models, tissue engineered implants of the bronchial epithelium and endothelium were found to promote synergistic repair of the airway through biochemical regulation of the airway microenvironment. While epithelial cells modulate local tissue composition and reaction, endothelial cells preserve the epithelium； together their relative impact was enhanced suggesting both cell types act synergistically for airway repair.
