Functional stability of endothelial cells on a novel hybrid scaffold for vascular tissue engineering

Abstract

Porous and pliable conduits made of biodegradable polymeric scaffolds offer great potential for the development of blood vessel substitutes but they generally lack signals for cell proliferation, survival and maintenance of a normal phenotype. In this study we have prepared and evaluated porous poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) integrated with fibrin composite (FC) to get a biomimetic hybrid scaffold (FC PCL) with the biological properties of fibrin, fibronectin (FN), gelatin, growth factors and glycosaminoglycans. Reduced platelet adhesion on a human umbilical vein endothelial cell-seeded hybrid scaffold as compared to bare PCL or FC PCL was observed, which suggests the non-thrombogenic nature of the tissue-engineered scaffold. Analysis of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) after 5 days of endothelial cell (EC) culture on a hybrid scaffold indicated that the prothrombotic von Willebrand factor and plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI) were quiescent and stable. Meanwhile, dynamic expressions of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase indicated the desired cell phenotype on the scaffold. On the hybrid scaffold, shear stress could induce enhanced nitric oxide release, which implicates vaso-responsiveness of EC grown on the tissue-engineered construct. Significant upregulation of mRNA for extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, collagen IV and elastin, in EC was detected by RT-PCR after growing them on the hybrid scaffold and FC-coated tissue culture polystyrene (FC TCPS) but not on FN-coated TCPS. The results indicate that the FC PCL hybrid scaffold can accomplish a remodeled ECM and non-thrombogenic EC phenotype, and can be further investigated as a scaffold for cardiovascular tissue engineering.

Development and evaluation of axially aligned nanofibres for blood vessel tissue engineering

“…The data indicate that PCL has the least tendency to turn thrombogenic, while the blend nanofibres have a high potential to become thrombogenic. One of the shortcomings in polymeric nanoconstructs used in cardiovascular tissue engineering is their propensity to activate blood coagulation, leading to thrombosis (Pankajakshan et al ., ). Our results have demonstrated that the aligned PCL nanofibrous scaffold has good non‐thrombogenic properties that are vital for the development of successful cardiovascular grafts.…”

In Vitro Platelet Adhesion of PNaAMPS/PAAm and PNaAMPS/PDMAAm Double‐Network Hydrogels

“…Moreover, the adherent platelets are round shape, which means they were nonactivated. As a widely used blood‐contacting biomaterial, the platelet adhesion of PET has also been tested. The adherent platelets on PET surface were 297 ± 41 cells per 10 4 μm 2 (Figure S2, Supporting Information).…”

“…The numbers of adherent platelet on PNaAMPS/PAAm and PNaAMPS/PDMAAm hydrogels were 16 ± 7 and 9 ± 8 cells per 10 4 μm 2 , respectively. They were far less than the number of adherent platelet on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (297 ± 41 cells per 10 4 μm 2 ), which is a widely used blood‐contacting biomaterial . Through the further investigations of the platelet adhesion mechanism, we found that the chemical components, zeta potential, and protein adsorption were the main influence factors on hydrogels platelet adhesion behavior.…”

Fibrin – a promising material for vascular tissue engineering

“…Хорошая проникающая способность фибринового геля, крепкое сцепление с рельефной или пористой поверхностью после полимеризации позволяют использовать фибрин в качестве покрытия или пропитки каркасов из различных полимерных материалов или ксеногенной ткани [23,71,73]. В качестве полимерной основы биомиметического гибридного каркаса с биологическими свойствами фибрина используют пористый PCL [74], полилактид [71], PET [23], PTFE/дакрон [75]. Для сохранения механических свойств и улучшения биосовместимости разрабатывают биологические композитные каркасы на основе децеллюляризованных артерий, покрытых фибриновым гелем [73].…”