Controlled fabrication of triple layered and molecularly defined collagen/elastin vascular grafts resembling the native blood vessel

ECM-based triple layered scaffolds for vascular tissue engineering

“…Moreover, the addition of PEG2000 could modulate the microporosity of the PLLA layer influencing the overall degradation time in biological medium and its stiffness. The longitudinal TS values of our TLVGs (0.47±0.02 MPa) were higher compared to those (0.24±0.10 MPa) of triple layered scaffolds prepared by Koens et al (9). Furthermore, the Young's modulus of our TLVGs (1.8 MPa) was comparable to that of porcine coronary artery (1 MPa) (31), rabbit aorta (1.25 MPa) (32) and human saphenous or femoral vein (1.50 MPa) (33).…”

“…ECM harvested from the small intestine, skin, liver, pancreas, and urinary bladder has been successfully used to promote the regeneration of tissues and organs in both animal models and human (14)(15)(16)(17)(18). Several types of mono-or multilayer vascular grafts containing collagen and elastin have been obtained using different techniques (9,(19)(20)(21)(22)(23). Nevertheless, only few studies have dealt with three-layered small-diameter blood vessel substitutes (24)(25)(26)(27).…”

“…The SDVG must be biocompatible, non-thrombogenic, non-immunogenic, resistant to infection, with appropriate mechanical (such as the ability to withstand long-term hemodynamic stress without failure) and physiological (such as compliance and appropriate vasoconstriction/relaxation response) properties (4). In addition to the improvement of current conduits through the surface coating with angiogenic factors, alternative research approaches are focusing on the construction of new vessel substitutes based on natural materials (5) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins that function as intrinsic templates for cell attachment and growth (6)(7)(8)(9). Biological scaffold materials derived from naturally occurring ECM have been already shown to promote site-specific tissue remodeling in a variety of body systems (10).…”

Elastin Based Constructs

“…Freeze-dried scaffolds of insoluble elastin fibers and purified collagen fibers present mechanical properties consistent with those of elastic tissues (Buttafoco, EngbersBuijtenhuijs et al 2006). Furthermore, these scaffolds appear to be compatible with SMCs (Buijtenhuijs, Buttafoco et al 2004;Engbers-Buijtenhuijs, Buttafoco et al 2005;Buttafoco, Engbers-Buijtenhuijs et al 2006), endothelial cells (Wissink, van Luyn et al 2000) and platelets (Koens, Faraj et al 2010) pointing to potential vascular applications. Also, insoluble elastin/collagen scaffolds have been explored as possible dermal replacements as these materials can support fibroblasts (Daamen, van Moerkerk et al 2003) and keratinocytes (Lammers, Tjabringa et al 2009).…”

Fabrication of Multiple Layered Scaffolds with Controlled Porous Micro-Architecture

“…Complex and controlled architectures are often a necessary alternative to loading drugs in a porous scaffold, as control over structure is critical for gaining adequate release function. Recent novel techniques have been reported for achieving these complex architectures, including electrospinning, phase separation, and precipitation as well as gas foaming/particulate leaching [1][2][3][4] . Besides that, several groups have also investigated the layering of 2-D sheets to build up a complex 3-D architectures with porous features [5][6][7][8] .…”