title: Use of autologous blood-derived endothelial progenitor cells at point-of-care to protect against implant thrombosis in a large animal model.
abstract: Titanium (Ti) is commonly utilized in many cardiovascular devices, e.g. as a component of Nitinol stents, intra- and extracorporeal mechanical circulatory assist devices, but is associated with the risk of thromboemboli formation. We propose to solve this problem by lining the Ti blood-contacting surfaces with autologous peripheral blood-derived late outgrowth endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) after having previously demonstrated that these EPCs adhere to and grow on Ti under physiological shear stresses and functionally adapt to their environment under flow conditions ex vivo. Autologous fluorescently-labeled porcine EPCs were seeded at the point-of-care in the operating room onto Ti tubes for 30 min and implanted into the pro-thrombotic environment of the inferior vena cava of swine (n = 8). After 3 days, Ti tubes were explanted, disassembled, and the blood-contacting surface was imaged. A blinded analysis found all 4 cell-seeded implants to be free of clot, whereas 4 controls without EPCs were either entirely occluded or partially thrombosed. Pre-labeled EPCs had spread and were present on all 4 cell-seeded implants while no endothelial cells were observed on control implants. These results suggest that late outgrowth autologous EPCs represent a promising source of lining Ti implants to reduce thrombosis in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, 136 Hudson Hall, Box 90281, Durham, NC 27708, USA.
authors.forename: Alexandra E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Jantzen
authors.forename: Whitney O
authors.initials: WO
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.forename: Shawn M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Gage
authors.forename: Ryan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Jamiolkowski
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Haseltine
authors.forename: Lauren J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Galinat
authors.forename: Fu-Hsiung
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Jeffrey H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Lawson
authors.forename: George A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Truskey
authors.forename: Hardean E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Achneck
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001769:Blood; D001807:Blood Vessel Prosthesis / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D013552:Swine; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D014025:Titanium