A tough endothelium-like dressing for vascular stents

Abstract

Vascular stent is viewed as one of the greatest advancements in interventional cardiology. However, current approved stents suffer from in-stent restenosis associated with neointimal hyperplasia or stent thrombosis. To address this issue, we developed an endothelium-like (EL) dressing for vascular stents inspired by the importance and biological functions of native endothelium for cardiovascular system. Our EL dressing is based on a de novo designed hydrogel that is mechanically tough and could preserve integrity on stents during angioplasty. Due to its physiochemical similarities to subendothelial extracellular matrix, the EL dressing facilitated the adhesion and growth of endothelial cells. Besides, it is non-thrombotic and capable of inhibiting smooth muscle cells thanks to the capacity to catalyze nitric oxide generation. Transcriptome analysis further unraveled the EL dressing could modulate the inflammatory response and induce the relaxation of smooth muscle cells, while potentially promoting angiogenesis by stimulating the expression of angiogenic factors. In vivo study demonstrated vascular stents encapsulated by it promoted rapid restoration of native endothelium and persistently suppressed in-stent restenosis in both leporine and swine models. We expect such EL dressing will open a new avenue to the surface engineering of vascular implants for better clinical outcomes.

A two-photon ratiometric fluorescent probe for real-time imaging and quantification of NO in neural stem cells during activation regulation

“…Excessive and unregulated NO in cells is associated with many diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease, inammation and cardiovascular disease. [5][6][7][8] Therefore, it is of great signicance to develop a capable tool, for the quantication of NO with high selectivity and accuracy, especially in complex biological environments such as living cells and tissues.…”

Bioinspired Vascular Stents with Microfluidic Electrospun Multilayer Coatings for Preventing In‐Stent Restenosis

“…[6][7][8] To solve this problem, various strategies have been developed, such as synchronous application of oral drugs and coating stents with functional molecules. [9,10] Although with many improvements to reduce the incidence of ISR, the former method faces the limitations of untargeted and random drug diffusion [11][12][13][14] ; while the latter has problems like low coating amount, and low coating coverage, thus cannot prevent smooth muscle hyperplasia or restenosis comprehensively. [6] Therefore, functional stents with high drug loading and good biocompatibility are still needed.…”