Development of Small-Diameter Vascular Grafts Based on Silk Fibroin Fibers from Bombyx mori for Vascular Regeneration.
In the field of surgical revascularization, the need for functional small-diameter (1.5-4.0 mm in diameter) vascular grafts is increasing. Several synthetic biomaterials have been tested for this purpose, but in many cases they cause thrombosis. In this study, we report the development of small-diameter vascular grafts made from silk fibroin fibers from the domestic silkworm Bombyx mori or recombinant silk fibroin fibers from a transgenic silkworm. The vascular grafts were prepared by braiding, flattening and winding the silk fibers twice onto a cylindrical polymer tube followed by coating with an aqueous silk fibroin solution. The grafts, which are 1.5 mm in inner diameter and 10 mm in length, were implanted into rat abdominal aorta. An excellent patency (ca. 85%, n= 27) at 12 months after grafting with wild-type silk fibers was obtained. Endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells migrated into the silk fibroin graft early after implantation, and became organized into an endothelium and a media-like smooth muscle layer.
Nakazawa
Yasumoto
Y
a Nature and Science Museum, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8588, Japan.
Sato
Michiko
M
Takahashi
Rui
R
Aytemiz
Derya
D
Takabayashi
Chiyuki
C
Tamura
Toshiki
T
Enomoto
Soichiro
S
Sata
Masataka
M
Asakura
Tetsuo
T
D000818:Animals; D030801:Animals, Genetically Modified; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000601:surgery; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis; D019917:Blood Vessel Prosthesis Implantation; D012831:Bombyx; D066241:Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000502:physiology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000502:physiology; D005349:Fibroins / Q000737:chemistry; D008297:Male; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D032389:Myocytes, Smooth Muscle / Q000502:physiology; D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1 / Q000378:metabolism; D011474:Prosthesis Design; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry; D012038:Regeneration
D019408:Platelet Endothelial Cell Adhesion Molecule-1; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D005349:Fibroins