An Aligned Patterned Biomimetic Elastic Membrane Has a Potential as Vascular Tissue Engineering Material

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, with an annual mortality incidence predicted to rise to 23.3 million worldwide by 2030. Synthetic vascular grafts as an alternative to autologous vessels have shown satisfactory long-term results for replacement of large-and medium-diameter arteries, but have poor patency rates when applied to small-diameter vessels. Nanoparticles with low toxicity, contrasting agent properties, tailorable characteristics, targeted/stimuli-response delivery potential, and precise control over behavior (via external stimuli such as magnetic fields) have made possible their use for improving engineered tissues. Poly (styrene-block-butadieneblock-styrene) (SBS) is a kind of widely used thermoplastic elastomer with good mechanical properties and biocompatibility. Here, we synthesized anthracene-grafted SBS (SBS-An) by the method for the fabrication of a biomimetic elastic membrane with a switchable Janus structure, and formed the patterns on the surface of SBS-An under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. By irradiating the SBS-An film at different times (0, 10, 20, 30, 60, and 120 s), we obtained six well-ordered surface-patterned biomimetic elastic film with SBS-An at different heights in the thickness direction and the same distances of intervals (named sample-0, 10, 20, 30, 60, and 120 s). The structural effects of the SBS-An films on the adhesion and proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were studied, and the possible mechanism was explored. When the HUVECs were cultured on the SBS-An films at different heights in the thickness direction, the sample-30 s with approximately 4 µm height significantly promoted adhesion of the HUVECs at the early stage and proliferation during the culture period compared with the samples of the lower (0, 10, and 20 s) and higher (60 and 120 s) heights. Consistent with this, the sample 30 s showed a higher stimulatory effect on the proliferation-and angiogenesis-related genes. These results suggest that SBS-An with appropriate height could efficiently control bioactivities of the biomimetic elastic membrane and might have great potential in vascular tissue engineering application.

The path to a hemocompatible cardiovascular implant: Advances and challenges of current endothelialization strategies

“…In detail, isotropic topographies such as pillars or wells resulted in lower cell density and cell proliferation compared to anisotropic topographies such as gratings. In another study by Ding et al, microgrooves on coronary stent lumen surfaces promoted EC migration and proliferation, which has also been confirmed by several research groups in the past ( 163 – 165 ). It was also found that ECs cultivated under physiological WSS on electrospun scaffolds are more adherent with fully aligned nanofibers than with random or semi-aligned scaffold topography ( 166 ).…”

Nanotechnology Innovations in Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine: A Comprehensive Review

“…This method proved superior to phosphate buffer saline administration in a mouse model [58]. Furthermore, another alternative for reperfusion exists: vessel grafts with anthracene-grafted styreneblock-butadiene block-styrene, which proved to be a promising vascular tissue-engineering alternative in a recent study [25].…”

“…Myocardial repair is also thought to be achievable using nanotechnology in the future. One study [25] showed optimistic results by using human induced pluripotent stem cellderived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) cultured in a three-dimensional micro-environment, conjugated with an aligned polycaprolactone (PCL)-gelatin coaxial nanofiber patch fabricated using electrospinning. An alternative strategy involves tagging fresh cardiomyocytes with magnetic nanoparticles and immobilizing them by applying a localized magnetic field [45].…”

Nanotechnology in interventional cardiology: A state-of-the-art review

“…Similarly, engineered vessel grafts show a promising alternative to autografts in coronary artery bypass surgery. Tan, et al reported that bioengineered anthracene-grafted styrene- block -butadieneblock-styrene enhances the proliferation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells [102] . This approach can have larger ramifications in CV engineering.…”