Experimental study on the construction of small three-dimensional tissue engineered grafts of electrospun poly-ε-caprolactone

Abstract

Studies on three-dimensional tissue engineered graft (3DTEG) have attracted great interest among researchers as they present a means to meet the pressing clinical demand for tissue engineering scaffolds. To explore the feasibility of 3DTEG, high porosity poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) was obtained via the co-electrospinning of polyethylene glycol and PCL, and used to construct small-diameter poly-ε-caprolactone-lysine (PCL-LYS-H) scaffolds, whereby heparin was anchored to the scaffold surface by lysine groups. A variety of small-diameter 3DTEG models were constructed with different PCL layers and the mechanical properties of the resulting constructs were evaluated in order to select the best model for 3DTEGs. Bone marrow mononuclear cells were induced and differentiated to endothelial cells (ECs) and smooth muscle cells (SMCs). A 3DTEG (labeled '10-4%') was successfully produced by the dynamic co-culture of ECs on the PCL-LYS-H scaffolds and SMCs on PCL. The fluorescently labeled cells on the 3DTEG were subsequently observed by laser confocal microscopy, which showed that the ECs and SMCs were embedded in the 3DTEG. Nitric oxide and endothelial nitric oxide synthase assays showed that the ECs behaved normally in the 3DTEG. This study consequently provides a new thread to produce small-diameter tissue engineered grafts, with excellent mechanical properties, that are perfusable to vasculature and functional cells.

The influence of specimen thickness and alignment on the material and failure properties of electrospun polycaprolactone nanofiber mats

“…Many studies have focused on the utility of electrospinning for applications in small three‐dimensional fiber‐based tissue replacement scaffolds/grafts . It has had the greatest success in tissue repair/replacement applications like skin, cartilage, nerves and blood vessels .…”

“…Many studies have focused on the utility of electrospinning for applications in small three-dimensional fiber-based tissue replacement scaffolds/grafts. 5,[35][36][37][38][39] It has had the greatest success in tissue repair/replacement applications like skin, 40,41 cartilage, 16 nerves 39 and blood vessels. 3 However, the application of electrospun grafts in thicker tissues, like muscle and even full-thickness skin defects, has had notably less success.…”

Development of an electrospun biomimetic polyurea scaffold suitable for vascular grafting

“…However, using robust techniques, antithrombotic biomolecules such as collagen, chitosan, heparin, thrombomodulin, Arg-Gly-Asp, and albumin, can be immobilized noncovalently on the luminal surface of the graft. [8][9][10][11][12][13] Studies have validated the role of such biomolecules in promoting transanastomotic and blood-borne migration and attachment of endothelial cells (ECs) on the luminal surface of the vascular graft. [14][15][16] With rapid endothelialization, the endothelial cells form a barrier that prevents the flux of fluid and protein into the grafts.…”

“…Hence, PCL has been blended with other materials to improve its functionality. 13,27 Based on these observations, we hypothesized that RGDconjugated PSHU (PSHU/RGD) blended with PCL will serve as an excellent material for a TEVG because it possesses synthetic polypeptide-like bonds and RGD groups mimicking the structure and function of the native extracellular matrix components as well as reducing the thrombogenicity of the graft long-term and exhibiting optimal elasticity. PSHU was blended with PCL (M w 5 80 kDa) and electrospun into scaffolds.…”

Modeling, simulations, and optimization of smooth muscle cell tissue engineering for the production of vascular grafts

“…With regard to the tissue engineering of vascular grafts, an extensive literature search yielded that electrospun fiber scaffolds (Fu et al, 2014;He, Yong, Teo, Ma, & Ramakrishna, 2005; Mercado-Pagán, Kang, Findlay, & Yang, 2015;Nezarati, Eifert, Dempsey, & Cosgriff-Hernandez, 2015; G. C. Zhu et al, 2015) are most suitable for vascular grafts as they can be readily fabricated in the required tubular shape and any size of arteries, with controlled porosity and pore size and fiber orientation mimicking the orientation of collagen fibers in arteries (Elsayed, Lekakou, Labeed, & Tomlins, 2016a;Salifu, Nury, & Lekakou, 2011). Hence, the present study undertook the development of a continuum, two-phase model of the flow of culture medium and the transport of nutrients and cells through a fibrous scaffold, guided by the modeling of flow through fiber porous media for other applications, such as composites manufacturing (Amico & Lekakou, 2004;Lekakou, Edwards, Bell, & Amico, 2006).…”