Electrospun polyurethane vascular grafts: In vitro mechanical behavior and endothelial adhesion molecule expression

• Published in: Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A 2010-05, Vol.93A (2), p.716-723
• Main Authors: Grasl, Christian, Bergmeister, Helga, Stoiber, Martin, Schima, Heinrich, Weigel, Guenter
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: adhesion molecules; Animals; Biocompatible Materials - chemistry; Biocompatible Materials - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; biomechanics; Biomechanics. Biorheology; Blood Vessel Prosthesis; Cell Culture Techniques; Cells, Cultured; E-Selectin - metabolism; Electrochemical Techniques - instrumentation; Electrochemical Techniques - methods; Electron Probe Microanalysis; electrospinning; endothelial cells; Endothelial Cells - cytology; Endothelial Cells - metabolism; Endothelium - cytology; Endothelium - metabolism; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gold - chemistry; Humans; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 - metabolism; Interleukin-1beta - metabolism; Materials Testing; Medical sciences; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; polyurethane; Polyurethanes - chemistry; Silver - chemistry; Surface Properties; Surgery (general aspects). Transplantations, organ and tissue grafts. Graft diseases; Technology. Biomaterials. Equipments; Tensile Strength; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; Vascular Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 - metabolism; Vascular surgery: aorta, extremities, vena cava. Surgery of the lymphatic vessels
• ISSN: 1549-3296; 1552-4965; 1552-4965
• DOI: 10.1002/jbm.a.32584

Engineered small diameter vascular grafts must closely match mechanical characteristics of native vessels and exhibit stimulus‐responsive bioactivity. In this study, mechanical homogeneity of electrospun small diameter polyurethane grafts as well as spontaneous attachment, proliferation, and adhesion molecule expression of endothelial cells (EC) in their presence was studied in vitro. Axial and circumferential tensile strengths were measured and found to be twofold higher in the circumferential direction. EC attachment was easily achieved without precoating the fiber matrix. Stimulation of EC with interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) led to a statistically significant upregulation of the adhesion molecules E‐Selectin, ICAM‐1, and VCAM‐1. Quantification of adhesion molecule expression by means of energy‐dispersive X‐ray microanalysis revealed no differences in the stimulatory responses of EC cultured on electrospun polyurethane when compared with cells grown on tissue culture‐treated cover slips. Summarizing, highly uniform small diameter polyurethane grafts were fabricated and shown to allow spontaneous EC attachment. The synthetic graft surface neither impaired the endothelial response toward IL‐1β stimulation nor did it adversely affect the regulation of expression of endothelial adhesion molecules. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res, 2010