No abstract

Synthetic vascular prostheses are foreign bodies, so that blood coagulation can occur on their luminal surfaces, causing graft occlusion very frequently in prostheses of small diameter. A vascular prosthesis needs angiogenesis for endothelialization of the luminal surface, as endothelial cells have natural and permanent antithrombogenic properties. To induce capillary growth into the graft, we developed a method of transplanting bone marrow cells, which are primitive, strong enough to survive, and create blood cells, resulting in the inducement of capillary growth. In an animal experiment, marrow cells were infiltrated into the walls of long-fibril expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE) vascular grafts. The grafts were implanted in the abdominal aortic position of 24 dogs autologously. Marrow cells survived and continued exogenous hemopoiesis for up to six months and were immunohistochemically reactive to basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF). All the grafts older than three weeks had complete endothelialization and maintained their patency. Twenty grafts without bone marrow were implanted as controls. Endothelialization was present at anastomotic sites, but other areas were covered with fresh thrombi. Four out of seven control grafts were patent with endothelial cell lining at six months, but three were occluded and one of the four grafts was still covered with a thrombus layer. Bone marrow with its unique native properties produced autocrine angiogenicity in the graft.

As a three-dimensional carrier for cell culture, a honeycomb structure cell scaffold was created from atelopeptide collagen Types I, II, and III. The diameter of the honeycomb pores ranged from 100 to 1,000 microm. The depth of the pores was from 10 to 3,000 mm. The scaffold was elastic and hard. Creation of various shapes was easy, and these shapes were easily maintained. Human fibroblasts, CHO-K1, BHK-21, and bovine endothelial cells were cultured with the scaffold. The growth curves of these cells were satisfactory. These results suggest that this carrier is a suitable scaffold for cell culture and will be useful as a three-dimensional tissue engineering scaffold.

A segment of silk polyfilament suture [No. 2-0(USP)], ca. 10 cm long, was coated with a thin membrane (2-6 micron) of chitosan, N-acetylchitosan, or N-hexanoylchitosan. The suture was directly inserted into the lumen of dog's peripheral veins. The in vivo blood compatibility of these membranes was macroscopically determined from the blood coagulum formed on the membrane surface at 2 h. An intense thick blood coagulum formed on the chitosan membrane surface and a thin blood coagulum formed on N-acetylchitosan membrane surface, but no blood coagulum formed on N-hexanoylchitosan membrane surface.