In vitro endothelial differentiation evaluation on polycaprolactone-methoxy polyethylene glycol electrospun membrane and fabrication of multilayered small-diameter hybrid vascular graft

Abstract

During development of functional tissue engineered vascular graft, ensuring endothelialization at inner layer and mechanically strong outer layer is considered as challenging. The study objective was to fabricate a multilayered artificial blood vessel by dual syringe electrospinning technique. The presented graft was composed of polycaprolactone-methoxy polyethylene glycol which acts as an inner layer whereas Poly [4,4'-methylenebis(phenyl isocyanate)-alt-1,4butanediol/di(propylene glycol)/polycaprolactone] (PUPCL) (12% w/v) was incorporated as the outer layer. To find out the optimum inner layer, different polycaprolactone-methoxy polyethylene glycol electrospun membranes varying methoxy polyethylene glycol content (0, 5, 10, 20, and 30% w/v) were prepared and evaluated. The characterizations revealed that blending of methoxy polyethylene glycol with polycaprolactone improved hydrophilicity and antithrombogenic properties compared to polycaprolactone or polyurethane polycaprolactone membrane. During in vitro assessment, the optimized polycaprolactone-20% methoxy polyethylene glycol membrane reinforced a greater differentiation of rat bone marrow stem cell into endothelial cells at both mRNA and protein levels by significantly inducing endothelial markers (CD31, Flk-1, and von Willebrand factor) expression. The polyurethane polycaprolactone membrane showed higher mechanical strength than polycaprolactone-methoxy polyethylene glycol while multilayered polycaprolactone-20% methoxy polyethylene glycol/polyurethane polycaprolactone vascular graft exhibited better result compared to single form. Therefore, the strong and bioactive polycaprolactone-20% methoxy polyethylene glycol/polyurethane polycaprolactone small diameter graft (<2 mm) prepared by simple fabrication process could be a promising preliminary platform for vascular tissue engineering application studies.

Development of biodegradable webs of PLA/PCL blends prepared via electrospinning: Morphological, chemical, and thermal characterization

“…On the other hand, the hydrophilic character improves the polarity and adhesiveness of the surface, which makes cell attachment and proliferation more possible 62 . Previous studies have reported that cells favorably attach to surfaces with an average contact angle of 60–70° 63 . Therefore, various surface modification studies are carried out in the literature to improve the wettability and cell adhesion properties of PLA‐ and PCL‐based surfaces 64,65 …”

Evaluation of the Biocompatibility and Endothelial Differentiation Capacity of Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Polyethylene Glycol Nanogold Composites

“…Focusing on the inner layer of the graft, polycaprolactone-methoxy polyethylene glycol significantly improved the hydrophilicity and anti-thrombogenic properties when compared to PCL or PU-PCL membranes. Additionally, based on in vivo assessment, the polycaprolactone-methoxy polyethylene glycol membrane strengthened the differentiation of rat bone marrow stem cells into ECs and also significantly facilitated the protein and mRNA gene expression of CD31, Flk-1, and vWF, which was associated with angiogenesis [ 48 ]. Our previous study also demonstrated that Col fabricated with 43.5 ppm of Au nanoparticles significantly enhanced CD31 expression as well as promoted the endothelial differentiation for MSCs [ 25 ], which was corresponded to Figure 5 in current research.…”

Gelatin Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery Applications

“…Different types of linkage were explored to immobilize the drug on polymer chains such as amide bond through carbodiimide, thiol-ene bonds, and metal-free click chemistry. Most of the growth factors such as transforming growth factor-β1 (TGFβ1), Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) [3][4][5], Bone morphogenetic protein-7 (BMP-7) [60,61], and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) [4,5,62], have been conjugated through aminecarboxylic acid reaction to form amide bonds [59].…”