Christmas out of season: who is Kris Kringle and what has he wrought?

摘要

Santa Claus is sometimes referred to as Kris Kringle, a name most likely derived from Christ Kindel (Christ-child). The German name of the Christ Child is Christkind, commonly used in its diminutive form Christkindel. The Dutch-German protestant reform movement brought in the idea that the Christchild should be the standard bearer for Christmas. Traditionally, an image used for his messenger was a young child with a golden crown who holds a tiny "Tree of Light" and brings the gifts of the Christ Child. We currently enjoy July, not Christmas. However, could it be that Kringle has brought us a present out of season?Wound repair, regeneration of ischemic tissues, and the new discipline of "tissue engineering" all require improved vascularization of the regenerating tissues. Recent advances in understanding the process of blood vessel growth have offered significant tools for therapeutic neovascularization. Several angiogenic growth factors including vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) and basicfibroblast growth factor (bFGF) have been used for the vascularization of regenerating and ischemic tissues in animal models. Three approaches have been used for vascularization of bioengineered tissue: incorporation of angiogenic factors in the bioengineered tissue, seeding endothelial cells with other cell types, and prevascularization of matrices prior to cell seeding.