A tissue graft construct for use in repairing diseased or damaged tissues isprovided. The tissue graft construct comprises a matrix composition selectedfrom the group consisting of liver basement membrane and extracts andhydrolysates thereof, and processed collagen from vertebrate non-submucosalsources, added endothelial cells, and at least one additional preselected,exogenous population of cells which enhance the initiation of vessel-likestructures in the grant.. The preselected population of cells can be apopulation of non-keratinized or keratinized epithelial cells or a populationof mesodermally derived cells selected from the group consisting offibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, skeletal muscle cells, cardiac muscle cells,multi-potential progenitor cells, pericytes, osteogenic cells, and any othersuitable cell type, preferably selected based on the tissue to be repaired.Methods for enhancing the vascularization in vivo of these tissue graftconstructs and for preparing these graft constructs are also provided.
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